Not to be hopelessly twee or self-referential here, but I’ve noticed a buildup of journalism- and media-related links building up here on my browser, starting with a couple of things about religion reporting.
First, Romenesko linked a report that found Americans believe their religion news is too sensationalized. The religion reporting I do, personally, tends to be featurey, rather than hard news, and it’s not generally something that lends itself to sensationalism–even if I wanted to sensationalize it, which I do not.
And the religion reporting that’s available through the Associated Press skews heavily Catholic, probably because 1. their church is centralized and a little easier to write about, 2. it’s a very big church and 3. they have their own country.
Do you find your religion news to be sensationalized? Local or national?
And now on to other topics!
- People who’ve read Plato’s “Republic” and its criticism of fiction and thought “Bah!” might be gratified to read this article noting why fiction is actually good for us. That’s right, kids. Eat your broccoli and read your fiction!
- Here’s another historian noting the changes in journalism are just like previous changes in journalism, and are not really unprecedented. (In fact, there’s very little as much like Twitter as the random-seeming social notes in newspapers circa 1910.)
- As a reporter, what do you do when someone you’re writing about makes a decision that could cost him his life? This reporter ended up watching a snake-handling pastor die for his faith. (via BoingBoing)
- A writer calls out a newspaper in which the top brass are (almost) all male. What impact does this have on a paper? Is diversity an issue in newsrooms nationwide? (via Romenesko)
