For journalism students, a religion primer
From left, Munir Shaikh, associate professor Stephen
Burgard, Benjamin Hubbard and Debra Mason in the Curry
Student Center Ballroom.
By Brooks Wallace and Stephanie Contreras
Reporters covering religion news should know themselves and their own faith, not make assumptions, be conscious of their own biases, try to remain neutral but also remain tough, said Debra Mason.
The executive director of the Religion Newswriters Association also advised journalism students to maintain a thick skin: no other topic garners as much criticism as religion coverage, but some of the critiques are often correct, she said.
Mason, who also directs the Center on Religion and the Professions at the University of Missouri, was one of a series of speakers in a recent daylong conference on campus sponsored by the School of Journalism to introduce students to religion coverage.
Discussions were moderated by associate professor Stephen Burgard, director of the School of Journalism and author of “Hallowed Ground: Rediscovering our spiritual roots.”
The morning session included comments from Mason as well as Benjamin Hubbard, a religion and media specialist from California State University at Fullerton, and Munir Shaikh, executive director of the California-based Institute on Religion and Civic Values.
Hubbard said years ago, religion writers had no respect and the American public was yearning for unbiased and pluralistic religion coverage.
“Readers wanted more news about religion, not religious news,” he said. “The complexities of religion can be daunting and people want to understand it better.”
According to studies, 15 percent of stories in the major media had some religious connection, but a lack of context and background was readers’ biggest complaint. In addition, conflict was overstressed in most stories involving religion.
Although Hubbard said he disapproves of skewed representations in the major news media, it has come a long way over the last 40 years, as more and more effective stories are seen on major television network news channels and in popular news magazines. In addition, he said, several religion web sites provide unbiased and pluralistic approaches to religion coverage.
Shaikh reminded the future journalists that followers of Islam are a diverse group, including many African-Americans. He suggested that journalists keep some guidelines in mind when covering religion such as fairness and balance, respect for differences, knowledge of religious scriptures, and cultural context.
He also pointed out that the Arabic word “Allah” refers to “one God” — the same as the God worshipped by Jews and Christians — and that there are no separate Muslim, Christian or Hindu “worlds.” According to Shaikh, “these terms homogenize diverse peoples and create artificial divisions that obscure cultural observations. Humanizing religions is extremely important.”
The afternoon session featured Michael Paulson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe reporter on religion. In 2003, he and a team of reporters won U.S. journalism’s top award for public service with their coverage of Catholic clergy sexual abuse of children. He has also written about gay bishops in the Episcopal Church and the closing of parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston.
Paulson noted his lack of expertise on religion — for example, he had no idea what happens when a pope dies or how the next one is chosen. But, he said, “I realized that my job wasn’t to be an expert on religion, but rather an expert on journalism.”
In covering the clergy sexual abuse story, he said, he required delicacy in creating and maintaining a relationship with Catholic clergy. He said he found it difficult to gain the respect and cooperation of church officials, but through his persistence they realized he wasn’t going to go away.
The crisis included 4,392 priests who allegedly abused 10,667 minors during the second half of the 20th century, he said. “I have often argued that the abuse crisis had an impact not only on the church but on journalism, and in particular on the several hundred of us around the country who work day in and day out as religion reporters,” said Paulson.
On a brighter note, Paulson explained, for three years he checked in with residents of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood who formed a church in an abandoned garage. The churchgoers were suffering from terminal illnesses or severe drug addictions, but still expressed faith and hope, he said. After his four-part series on the church in December 2007, Paulson got hundreds of e-mails from readers; one wrote, “I envy that sense of community in that group of people. A part of me wants to pull up a folding chair and sit next to them.”
Said Paulson: “It reminded me what a privilege it is to be a reporter (and) that there are still a lot of readers who rely on the media for news.”
Introducing Paulson, Burgard summed up the day’s importance for students. “The importance of religion is its power to move people on the deepest levels, and the sense of trust they put in their leaders place a special responsibility on the press to get it right,” he said.
(Brooks Wallace and Stephanie Contreras are students in the School of Journalism.)