{"id":2458,"date":"2008-05-07T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-07T11:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html"},"modified":"2008-05-07T11:16:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-07T11:16:00","slug":"reporters-and-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html","title":{"rendered":"Reporters and religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Here’s a story that really hit home for me: the struggle of journalists to keep their faith. <\/p>\n

It comes from The Quill<\/a>, the journal of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ): <\/p>\n

When Los Angeles Times reporter William Lobdell was given the religion beat, he believed God had, literally, answered his prayers.<\/p>\n

But, as Lobdell confessed last summer in a first-person, front-page Times story, eight years of religion reporting that included the worst of the priest sex abuse scandals took a personal, painful toll.<\/p>\n

A one-time born-again Christian, Lobdell said reporting on the darker side of religion led him to lose his faith. He also told his editors he wanted off the beat. <\/p>\n

Although journalists are stereotyped as a secular and nonreligious lot, surveys show that about 70 percent of journalists profess a faith tradition.<\/p>\n

With religion as a component in today\u2019s front page news \u2014 from the war in Iraq to the U.S. presidential campaign \u2014 it\u2019s harder for journalists to separate their private faith from their public profession. <\/p>\n

People\u2019s religious beliefs affect how they vote, raise their children, and spend their time and money. As Lobdell\u2019s story shows, it can affect their work as a journalist, too, regardless of their beat, medium or position.<\/p>\n

Common sense and experience help guide journalists wondering whether it\u2019s possible to follow a faith tradition, while being trained to question everything.<\/p>\n

Lobdell\u2019s example shows \u2014 and he\u2019s not alone \u2014 that sometimes a journalist\u2019s job challenges a person\u2019s faith. But thousands of others find no such contradiction. And a very small, but growing, number of journalists see working in the mainstream media as a religious mission.<\/p>\n

Although politicians rarely ask journalists their political preferences, reporters on all beats may be asked their religion when querying sources about matters of faith.<\/p>\n

Veteran religion reporters, who are used to the question, say there is no single right way to respond. In an era in which journalistic transparency is prized, some journalists are upfront. Others answer in general terms \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m Christian\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m Jewish\u201d \u2014 and move on with the interview. Some deflect the question and explain it\u2019s the source\u2019s beliefs that are pertinent.<\/p>\n

No matter what approach, journalists should assure sources they are able to report about a source\u2019s faith with accuracy and fairness. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s more, including tips and advice. Well worth reading. <\/p>\n

For myself, I can say it is a struggle sometimes to work as an ordained religious in a profession that is unapologetically secular. But I have to say, too, that most of those I’ve encountered appreciate what I do, and who I am; I’ve written elsewhere about the gratifying experience of giving out ashes at CBS on Ash Wednesday. People routinely call me “Deacon” around the newsroom — for a while, Katie Couric was calling me “Father Greg” — and one of our directors (who is Jewish) likes to ask me, “How’s this Sunday’s sermon going?” <\/p>\n

Generally, journalists aren’t faithless. But religion is certainly something most don’t wear on their sleeve. And reporters are, by their nature, skeptical of anything powerful — like the Church. (That skepticism is one reason why I once cracked that St. Thomas, the doubting disciple, should be the patron saint of journalists.) <\/p>\n

Do I consider working in the newsroom a mission? I hadn’t really thought of it that way. But I’m reminded of what Mother Theresa used to tell people who arrived at her doorstep in India, seeking to help. She’d sigh and tell them, “You don’t need to be here. Find your own Calcutta.” <\/p>\n

Perhaps, CBS News is my Calcutta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a story that really hit home for me: the struggle of journalists to keep their faith. It comes from The Quill, the journal of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ): When Los Angeles Times reporter William Lobdell was given the religion beat, he believed God had, literally, answered his prayers. But, as Lobdell confessed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-my-world"],"yoast_head":"\nReporters and religion - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reporters and religion - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here’s a story that really hit home for me: the struggle of journalists to keep their faith. It comes from The Quill, the journal of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ): When Los Angeles Times reporter William Lobdell was given the religion beat, he believed God had, literally, answered his prayers. But, as Lobdell confessed…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-05-07T11:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SCHLD_il7RI\/AAAAAAAACY8\/9dNXRRuAuVU\/s320\/reporter_standing%5B1%5D.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"deacon greg kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reporters and religion - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reporters and religion - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"Here’s a story that really hit home for me: the struggle of journalists to keep their faith. It comes from The Quill, the journal of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ): When Los Angeles Times reporter William Lobdell was given the religion beat, he believed God had, literally, answered his prayers. But, as Lobdell confessed…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2008-05-07T11:16:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SCHLD_il7RI\/AAAAAAAACY8\/9dNXRRuAuVU\/s320\/reporter_standing%5B1%5D.jpg"}],"author":"deacon greg kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html","name":"Reporters and religion - The Deacon's Bench","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SCHLD_il7RI\/AAAAAAAACY8\/9dNXRRuAuVU\/s320\/reporter_standing%5B1%5D.jpg","datePublished":"2008-05-07T11:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-05-07T11:16:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/052b8cd86cc713feaccdc8282b03cf10"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SCHLD_il7RI\/AAAAAAAACY8\/9dNXRRuAuVU\/s320\/reporter_standing%5B1%5D.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SCHLD_il7RI\/AAAAAAAACY8\/9dNXRRuAuVU\/s320\/reporter_standing%5B1%5D.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/05\/reporters-and-religion.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reporters and religion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/052b8cd86cc713feaccdc8282b03cf10","name":"deacon greg kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a4e\/a4e07ce6fde3f10d4d9753243fd48d45x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a4e\/a4e07ce6fde3f10d4d9753243fd48d45x96.jpg","caption":"deacon greg kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}