Journalism and Faith

I wasn't exceptionally worried about my faith interfering with my career when I thought about becoming a journalist--it never did at the Standard-Examiner. But eventually it began to creep into the back of my mind and just sit there, making itself known only only occasionally.

"Hey...what if something happens which encroaches upon your faith...? Just a thought..."

It began to worry me a little more each--I'll say week or so--and then we learned about faith and journalism.

The Presentation was great, FYI.

However, I'm glad to learn that there are many journalists who hold deep religious beliefs and that there are religious organizations for Christian journalists.  I liked that there is an association that trains religious newswriters, because some religious news needs to be handled delicately, and all religious news should be handled in a tasteful, informed way. That's why I was pleasantly surprised when Newsweek asked the LDS girl working for them to handle the feature on Joseph Smith's Birthday--it is good for publications to recognize that members of a particular religion are the ones who will understand the most about that religion and be able to report with taste and context.

A good reporter should not, of course, let their beliefs taint the facts of a story; a Catholic should not smudge facts on a story about child abuse by a priest. But a person of a certain religion will know more about their own religion than someone of another faith.

I'm also glad to see that secularism in secular newsrooms isn't as hostile towards individual reporters with deep beliefs as some portray it. I'm glad to see that ethical considerations can and should be voiced.

And while the book said religion and journalism isn't necessarily most about the religion beat, I like the idea of reporters from one religion being able to "check [their] beliefs at the door" and report honestly and openly about another religion. I'd like to be able to think that we as journalists could focus in that coverage, as the book indicates, on what impact that religion has in teh lives of its members. I think the faith beats could be used to promote greater understanding, stamping out the ignorance that leads to acts motivated by intolerance. This site, http://www.religionwriters.com/tools-resources/reporting-on-religion-a-primer-on-journalisms-best-beat, shown in class, seems like a great resource. I especially like the calendar showing the holidays of multiple faiths on the same calendar. I like the idea that we all have holidays that occur on the same days as other faiths and we can all experience our own Holidays on the same days other faiths have theirs and everyone is ok with it. It is that respect of other faiths that defines freedom of religion in America, and I believe that same respect should define the way journalists deal with faith. There's a owrd for it, we say it at the end of yoga:

"Namaste"

"The Divine light in me honors the Divine light in you."