Meagan Clark. Why Religion Reporting Matters
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If most of the world is religious, why aren’t we paying more attention to beliefs and organized religion in our reporting? In the U.S. it’s because our newsrooms are largely secular, agnostic or atheist. Being a reporter is about being skeptical right? Or keeping your faith a secret at the least. Because the dominant culture in our newsrooms and big cities is secular and skeptical of religion or sees all organized religion as a problem in society. But whatever your own beliefs are, you should pay attention to what someone else believes. Why do so many reporters dismiss religion in an interview?
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Meagan Clark. Why Religion Reporting Matters
- 1. Why Religion Reporting Matters Meagan Clark Managing Editor, Religion Unplugged
- 4. Trends
- 10. Mediacoverage 2014 protests
- 16. Questions?
- 17. Meagan Clark Meagan@themediaproject.org Twitter: @MeaganKay ReligionUnplugged.com Twitter: @ReligionMag Instagram: @ReligionUnplugged
Notes de l'éditeur
- My name is Meagan. I’m the editor of Religion Unplugged. We’re an up and coming online magazine based in New York working with reporters all over the world. We’re unique in that we have a large international base and also appeal to young people. We just won an award from Editor and publisher magazine in the US for best culture news online under a million unique views a month. So we’re very happy with our progress in under a year of launching. Since I spent five years living in India and really fell in love with the place, I thought I’d share some stories from there with you.
- Has anyone followed what’s happened in Kashmir? It’s almost like Crimea but not an annexation. It’s as complicated a history as Israel Palestine, but the jist is that an area of North India is disputed between Pakistan and India, with each controlling different sides of it. Kashmir joined India after its independence based on a provision in the constitution that gave it autonomy, but in August, India decided to scrap that provision and demote Kashmir from a state to a territory. Internet, phones, roads, all were taken away for a while, and phone service was only recently restored in limited capacities. It’s India’s largest Muslim-majority area, and the Hindu nationalist government campaigned on getting it back and Indian-izing or Hinduizing it. The scrapping of the previous law will allow those outside Kashmir to settle there and own businesses there for the first time. The Indian media largely cast the shutdown as peaceful and necessary to prevent violence. When there were reports of protests, first from Al Jazeera, much of the Indian media echoed the government’s statement that there were no protests, that everything was under control. This is a photo from one of those protests, from our correspondent in India. This woman was teargassed.
- This man was hit with pellet fire. More than 50 people were injured in this protest in Kashmir, and this particular protest went largely unreported. We have a photo essay on Religion Unplugged if you want to read it. Like many political conflicts, this one is so much about religion and the history of Muslims and Hindus battling for land in South Asia, and the global rise of Islamophobia and Islamic terrorism. To not explore that history and treat it as just this government prerogative or modern sentiment is a major disservice to readers and the people in the story who are saying their way of life, their religious expressions and customs, are under threat. We think that one way to report on religion better is to stick with a story even after it falls out of major headlines. Another story from Kashmir to give you an example, was about the loss of traditional Kashmiri Sufi music as the Indian government sponsors fewer students to study it and the region is depressed with conflict.
- If most of the world is religious, why aren’t we paying more attention to beliefs and organized religion in our reporting? In the U.S. it’s because our newsrooms are largely secular, agnostic or atheist. Being a reporter is about being skeptical right? Or keeping your faith a secret at the least. Because the dominant culture in our newsrooms and big cities is secular and skeptical of religion or sees all organized religion as a problem in society. But whatever your own beliefs are, you should pay attention to what someone else believes. Why do so many reporters dismiss religion in an interview?
- You may have heard of this guy Kanye. He came out with an album of poppy gospel music. And he’s going on TV shows in the US saying he’s Christian now, he’s leaving the rapper lifestyle of having lots of beautiful women around him and buying a lot of toys and now Jesus is everything to him. The interviews are really interesting because the journalists squirm quite a bit. They don’t want to offend him by seeming superior or skeptical, and they definitely don’t want to be seen as racist, but you can tell they think he’s crazy. Meanwhile, he’s getting lots of praise and a new maybe bigger fan base. Album went to no. 1 on US itunes.
- Read caption. Doesn’t explain what’s happening – the priest is hearing a confession. Maybe the person kneeling thinks he may die that day and it’s last rites.
- Here, we don’t know what different faiths means. Is it Ukrainian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox? That would be a story in itself. What is meant by different faiths? There is a larger story.
- Ask the audience first. What is the religion reporting like in Ukraine? At RUP, we want to cover religion in a deeper way than mainstream media, but not just focusing on one faith or region.
- We’re doing it all to show the overall picture of religion affecting politics and culture worldwide. We attract a loyal audience to our homepage and social media and newsletters, and then attract local audiences in that story’s coverage area. Pay attention to and listen to religious communities. Know their history, beliefs and rituals. Take their beliefs seriously. Don’t be afraid to counter other media’s narratives. Point out exceptions to trends. Also hold religious institutions accountable.
- Here’s an example of a story I wrote from India about some temple protests. Most of the media narratives were either from secular feminists points of view– that it’s about women’s access to temples –or from the conservative Hindus who wanted to keep their tradition. Suspending my own beliefs. Listening more. Understanding context and motivations.
- Another story on religious freedom. This was exclusive reporting but it wasn’t like an investigation because the work was done by the organizations and I just had to call them and collect their documents and interviews. It was surprising to me that other media hadn’t written this story. Maybe because Christians are such a minority there. They are left out of the power circles in urban media in India. So are Muslms.