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Religion in the news

This report indicates that religion was not covered very well in the MSM last year. I know, I know, what an earth shaking surprise. This particular tibit is worth quoting because the exact same phenomenon is happening in Canada, regarding Paul Martin's claims to be devout practitioner of the Catholic faith.
Reporters approached religious issues from a very secular and political perspective, especially in stories on the presidential campaign. When some Roman Catholic bishops announced that they would deny Democratic candidate John Kerry the sacrament of the Eucharist over his decades of pro-abortion voting and advocacy, network reporters placed all their scrutiny on the church leaders, not on Kerry. Not only did they fail to explain the Eucharistic rules of the Church, they misquoted bishops as claiming Catholics shouldn’t “vote for sinners,” while they described Kerry as a “devout,” “observant,” and “practicing Catholic” despite his pro-abortion record. Kerry’s opponents were labeled “conservative,” but Kerry and his supporters were never described as “liberal.”
With more and more news channels to choose from, I don't think this kind of sloppy reporting can go on forever. Someone's going to realize that by being sloppy with these stories, the MSM is making it possible for a new entry to steal their lunch by doing a better job. For more detail and more examples, see here and here.

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