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• Religion
as a beat
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• By the numbers
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- Columbia, Mo.
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Religion
as a beat
Most of the tools used
in religion reporting are the same ones
you'd use for other beats: Identifying an
idea, locating the best people to address
it, visiting the scene, researching background,
investigating leads, fact-checking, storytelling.
Reporting religion, however,
requires some special skills.
It is a complex beat with
nuanced interpretations and passionately
held convictions and differences. You are
always in a process of learning - new practices,
new words, new concepts. You have to describe
events and feelings not seen with the eye.
Also, you can't call God "for comment."
It requires accurately
describing people's beliefs and experiences.
It is important to be respectful but neutral.
(It's not your job to endorse or dismiss
the person, group or beliefs, but you can
put them in context). You tell the "truth"
to the best of verifiable facts, and interpret
events for readers, listeners and viewers.
Readers can learn something
new from each of your stories. You can illuminate
them through explaining something about
a faith they did not understand, clarifying
a faith's role on a subject, or even inspiring
them to act, learn more or embrace their
own faith.
Tips
• Be where people
of faith are. That could be a church, mosque,
temple, bookstore, knitting group, sports
game, conference, festival, meditation center.
• Covering a holiday
can be a good introduction to a faith.
• Spot trends within
religions and between religions. Look for
ways religions respond to a changing world.
Do they vow to remain the same? Do they
vow to change with the times? Do they vow
to change the world?
• Look outside traditional
religion, such as web-based churches and
Internet communities, home-based groups,
yoga classes and spiritual book clubs.
• Find the intersection
of religion with "public square"
issues such as education, government, health
and science. Almost any issue - immigration,
homelessness, education, public policy,
sexuality, politics - has a relationship
with religion that you can talk about.
• Look for ways to
tell national or global stories locally.
Find out how a wider story is playing out
locally. Pick a topic and find out how various
faith traditions respond to it. Find local
representatives of national organizations.
Learn how local congregations and leaders
are "framing" issues or events.
• Talk to people about
religion. It's supposedly a "taboo
topic," but you can do it with curiosity
and respect. Ask your sources how their
faiths guide their actions or decisions.
Ask people you meet where they worship,
or what activities they're involved in.
Continuously make new contacts.
• Sign up for church
newsletters and other publications of local
religious organizations and houses of worship.
• Know what you don't
know - and then learn about it. Don't be
afraid to ask questions - most people are
willing to share their experiences and beliefs.
Be respectful about what you don't understand.
But also don't be afraid to investigate
or expose "sacred cows" (coverage
of the clergy abuse crisis in the Catholic
Church is an example.)
• Look for the views
of "real people." Don't rely on
leaders, the loudest voices or polar extremes
when exploring an issue.
• Surf the Web for
blogs, sites and information about current
topics in religion. Read national and local
religious magazines and newspapers such
as The Forward, Christian Century,
Christianity Today, Tricycle,
National Catholic Reporter and Science
and Theology News to learn about what
faith communities care about.
• Watch for movies,
books, TV shows, computer games and other
places where you see religious themes.
Tools
Sign up for e-mail
newsletters to help spot trends.
Check daily religion headlines,
such as on the
Center on Religion & the Professions'
homepage.
Look at lot of different
sites and publications to get a feel for
the range of opinions, interpretations and
positions out there, even within a faith.
Be aware that some religious organizations
and spokespersons are more media savvy than
others, and that some sites are politicized
or personal. Knowing the breadth of content
will help you put stories in context.
By
the numbers
Knowing the demographics
of the area, faith or group you are covering
is important to creating that context (and
can also be the source of story ideas outright).
However, in the case of religion, it is
a distinct challenge.
For example, the U.S. Census
- which records much demographic information
about Americans - does not ask people's
religious affiliations.
There are several surveys
of religion, but none is considered 100
percent reliable. Results differ based on
the options offered, how people are contacted,
how many people are surveyed and other factors.
Numbers can vary widely.
Many faith groups are so small that they
rarely show up on surveys. Some traditions,
such as African-American congregations,
are typically underrepresented because of
difficulty in obtaining numbers.
That said, there are a
few resources that can be useful in creating
a demographic framework for your coverage.
Using a combination of these statistics,
with appropriate explanation, can help create
a context or idea of your area's religious
demographics.
See demographics
sites here.
Getting
local - Columbia, Mo.
Almost any story can be
a local story. And sometimes local stories
will drive larger trends.
Become familiar with the
demographics of your coverage area and how
it compares to the rest of your state and
the country.
See demographics
sites for Boone County here.
Become familiar with the
places of worship in your community and
what they are doing. You can learn some
information
about Columbia's religious community here.
Look at events hosted by
various organizations, read ads that appear
in the paper, on billboards, on the Internet
or TV (often religious organizations will
bypass journalistic coverage to get their
message straight to the masses).
Get to know religious leaders
and believers in your community. Attend
events. Talk to people you know. Ask to
be introduced to people you don't know.
(A lot of "working" the religion
beat is about broadening your contact base,
as many religion stories don't come in the
form of a press release).
Go to bookstores and look
for trends in spiritual titles and merchandise.
Check out the religion section at Barnes
& Noble or University Bookstore, or
specialty stores like Columbia's Heart To
Heart Christian Books, Cherokee Heritage
Books, South Asia Books, or The Peace Nook.
Listen to local religious
radio stations. What are hot talk radio
topics? What local events are advertised?
Who is an on-air guest?
See some local
stations with religious programming here.
You can hear podcasts,
streamed broadcasts and audio files of sermons
and radio shows from around the country
as well. See some
local podcasts here.
You can also visit the
Interfaith Council of Columbia, which meets
at 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays, at Columbia Senior
Center.
Prepared for presentation
by Amy White of the Center on Religion &
the Professions at the Missouri School of
Journalism, Nov. 5, 2007. White was a newspaper
reporter for 12 years, four covering the
religion beat.
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