Covering Religion in the Post-9/11 World

Back on Tuesday, October 26, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a panel at the Newseum on Covering Religion in the Post-9/11 World. The event, which was free and open to the public, was above all very educational, and several things that I have suspected myself for a long time were confirmed.

The religion that was primarily discussed was Islam, due to the fact that Islamophobia is rampant right now. It was acknowledged that, since the 9/11 tragedy, religion has become a very hot topic and that the U.S. has become quite polarized. The reasons for this were not explored in depth, as time for the discussion was limited, and a lot of ground was covered as it is. I was very fortunate to pick up a copy of a book on the topic, edited by Stephen Burgard, one of the presenters,Faith, Politics, and Press in Our Perilous Times, which covers these ideas in more detail.

Other subjects covered included the state of religion reporting, the question of how the members of various religions being reported on feel, how the press could do a better job, and the future of religion reporting.

It was widely acknowledged that the state of religion reporting in the U.S. is lacking (the word, "crisis," was used by one panel member.) There are less reporters now who specialize in religion coverage, there is difficulty in some cases in finding spokespeople for a given movement, and there is a lack of both religious literacy and religious freedom literacy. These factors have combined to create a situation in which the quality of religion reporting in the U.S. is less than optimal.

The blogosphere has given more people a chance to be heard, but the quality of what is out there is mixed, and people are polarized. Very seldom do people venture into territory held by those whose views differ from their own. It can also be difficult to sift through what is out there and get to the truth of any given issue.

Another question covered was how do the people being covered feel? The answer to this was that it is hard to get that side of the story, because journalists don't often venture "outside the church." There is not a lot of reporting going on that covers the life of religious people out in their communities. This again goes back to the knowledge or understanding gap mentioned before.

The issue that was covered that's particularly pertinent to Pagans is the trend we see now (though it's been around for a very long time) of people using religion as a weapon in political races. This has stung our own community deeply several times recently. It is insidious, and it is wrong, but as was pointed out by panel members (and I think we all knew this,) politicians will do what they feel they need to do to succeed. It would be great if they could not use minority religions for their own gain, but exploring the subject of finding solutions to this would probably take up several posts all on its own.

The Moderator for this panel, Charles Haynes of the Religious Freedom Education Project, mentioned in his opening comments that the Project is open to input from journalists and from the public in building the program. After the panel was over, I approached him and, after thanking him for such an enriching event, I told him that it is essential that people who practice alternative religions be given a place at the table. He is not unfamiliar with Pagans and with the issues we've faced in the past and recently regarding politics and the press.

I will be keeping my eye out for more events from the Newseum, and I will be happy to share what I have learned when it applies to our religious community.