Religion Reporting

My specialized reporting class had Debra Mason as a guest speaker today.

Mason told the class that reporting on religion stories can be a difficult task. There are occasions where people you are interviewing will make assumptions based on your own religion and won't talk to you when you are just trying to report fairly.

Another difficulty of reporting on religion is when you have to report a story related to your own faith. There are reporters who have covered so many negative stories relating to their religion that they ended up "losing their faith."

In a broader scope, it is difficult for news organizations to keep a religion section. Although, according to Mason, a large number of readers will regularly read the religion section, the news organization struggles to economically justify having the section. Advertisers are uninterested in having their ads run on the same page in fear of readers associating their company with the religion represented in the story.

Something that seems to be lacking in coverage of Roman Catholic stories is diverse voices. It's difficult to get different viewpoints when the most influential leaders are all males. This is why Mason said it is important to include viewpoints from the community. Reporters must ask the minorities of these communities what their viewpoints and opinions are.

Lastly, Mason told the class to avoid using political terminology alongside religion, such as "conservative Catholic" or "progressive Evangelical." Politics and religion are separate things and should be kept separate. As an example, Mason described a Muslim woman who doesn't wear a headdress. Some might want to call this woman a liberal, but that is a meaningless assumption. Whether she wears a headdress or not is between her, her own faith and personal values. Political labels should be kept away from religion.