What do you think about the overall quality of religion coverage in mainstream print journalism?
According to Debra Mason, Executive Director of RNA and its Foundation, the overall quality of religion coverage is hard to generalize. Overall, it is much better than in the past. It has more depth, there is more complexity about story selection and there is greater variety in the story topics. That said, there are still places where religion news needs improvement.
For the most part, religion reporting that is done by people who specialize in it–the beat reporters–is excellent. It is nuanced, complex, balanced and fascinating. But there are only a few hundred specialists in the country (nearly all at U.S. Daily newspapers of 75,000 circulation or more). Many religion stories are actually reported by people who don’t typically cover religion regularly. They don’t realize how technical a beat it is. Almost always when someone is complaining about a lousy religion story, it is a report written by a general assignment reporter or someone similar. In addition, many stories in which religion is a component do not include religion, mostly because reporters are insecure in their knowledge about any faith other than their own. For example, Gordon Melton’s Encyclopedia of Religion lists 63 Baptist groups alone. Imagine the variety among the hundreds of different religious groups in this nation. It is mind-boggling, and reporters rushed for time sometimes decide it’s not worth the effort to learn more.
Finally, most people make a huge mistake by trying to assess the quality of religion coverage by looking at the East and West Coast elite papers. Some of the best reporting in the country takes place elsewhere.
Any problems with religion reporting are not related to the notion of “secular journalists,” i.e. Reporters who are anti-religion. In fact, the most reliable studies show that journalists in general mirror the general religiosity of the nation–in terms of how they define their faith. Rather, the biggest factor affecting whether or not religion is covered well has to do with time. Journalists need time to explore this angle, because sources are not easy, diversity is broad, and records aren’t public. If they don’t have much time, the religion angle will be the one most often left out.
