Religion in Journalism

While researching some information for this blog, I found a great article from The Boston College student newspaper called The Heights. The article sums up a conference that was held at Boston College on Religion and Journalism. There were so many good points made in the article that I highly suggest reading it in its entirety.

The article mentions that 43% of Americans do not think people should say offensive things in public. Because there is a fine line between freedom of speech and offensive language, religion often gets in the middle of that controversy. Religion is a sensitive subject. What may be blasphemy to one person is sacred for another. Religion is under-reported for fear of negative responses from the public. One journalist that was interviewed at the conference said, "that the first question often asked was about her personal religious choices, and that people wanted to interpret her story in light of that.

"People want to know what faith you are because they feel it's theirs, and unless you're a part of it, you can't understand it; you're going to get it wrong," said Brady-Mayerov.

This creates a fine line for journalists. Religion is covered more often now because it is such a large entity in Americans lives. We may not have all the same beliefs but religion is an integral part of our nations fabric. Religion and religious institutions require the same scrutiny that we give our corporations.

But we don't need to be embarrassed to report on religious subjects. Although I am not a fan, I appreciated Glenn Beck's tribute to President Hinckley when he passed away. President Hinckley deserved that tribute and Glenn Beck had the forum to share it. It was touching to see how important our Prophet was to this man.



Religion is a sensitive topic in journalism. Many people in the United States do not have a full understanding of the different religions in our country. By fairly reporting on religious issues, ignorance can disappear which in turn can strengthen tolerance in our country.