What type of training might a religion reporter need?
David Briggs is a religion writer for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and president of the Religion Newswriters Association in 2001-2002. He was the national religion writer for The Associated Press before coming to The Plain Dealer in 1998. He also was a religion writer for The Buffalo News before joining AP.
By David Briggs
The Plain Dealer*
First, there is no one way to become a religion writer. There are and have been some great religion writers who transferred from other beats with little background in the subject, and people with all sorts of different academic backgrounds. A great reporter is a great reporter.
That said, give a great reporter the tools to do her or his job at the highest level, and then you can approach excellence.
What I would recommend to best prepare is to obtain two degrees, a graduate or undergraduate degree in journalism and a graduate or undergraduate degree in religion studies. The better the schools in each field, the better prepared you will be in the profession, and the greater your flexibility and attractiveness will be in the job market.
My experience, which I would heartily recommend to anyone, is having obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and after working on a mid-sized paper as a reporter and editor for a few years, a master’s degree in religion from Yale Divinity School.
Both have great value, but let’s start with a graduate degree in religion. The bulk of my classes were in American religious history, biblical studies and contemporary theology. Each of these areas has proved helpful in religion journalism.
What the history of this country teaches is that Scripture matters. That reality may be applied to issues from public education to slavery to civil rights to the range of issues in sexuality that are so divisive today.
Taking two years of classes from world-renowned scholars in biblical studies-so detailed we were expected to be able to identify in context nearly any passage from the Old and New Testaments (the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures)-is a huge advantage in daily religion reporting. The comfort level of sources and readers goes way up when you can present the different sides in volatile debates clearly and accurately.
The same goes for having an historical perspective of major religious groups and movements in American life. Even if some sources are patient enough to give you a primer in their beliefs, they are far less likely to trust you with the inside information that gives depth and insight to your reporting.
If I could do it all over again, one area I would devote more time to would be Islam.
At the same time, I would not want to minimize the importance of earning a journalism degree from a college or university with a strong program.
Working with talented instructors who have professional experience also provides important lessons in collegiality. How you work with people will make an immense difference in what you can accomplish.
If you come to the beat long after your schooling is complete, there are several options for training. Among them is to take courses in religion reporting offered by the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism or the Poynter Institute. Also, RNA offers a mentoring program and its annual conference is a great place to talk to others who’ve gone before you.
*This article was written in 2001, at the time David Briggs was writing for the Plain Dealer. Briggs no longer works for that publication.
