That's an interesting and tantalisingly ambiguous question. Are we talking about the appearance of beliefs in an increasingly multi-platform world, the question of belief or otherwise in media values and performance, or some combination of the two?
The Religion Newswriters Foundation, the charitable arm of the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) in North America, is encouraging journalists to apply to its Lilly Scholarships in Religion Program. The scholarships give full-time journalists in the USA and Canada (only) up to US$5,000 to take any college religion courses at any accredited institution at any time.
It is almost a truism to note that if the mainstream media is our only source of news regarding anything to do with religion (however that might be conceived) in the Middle East, or even the Middle East in general, we are in deep trouble, says Dr Michael Marten. Here he analyses some of the major misunderstandings, urging the BBC and others to 'up their game' and to have the courage to address difficult and contentious issues appropriately.
I have recently spent the night reading about and watching the (in the first instance) London riots unfold from my hotel room in India. I have lived in Lewisham since 1998 and to see aerial images of cars along the main streets on fire and shops I know well looted has been surreal.
Last night at the One World Media Awards, I looked at more than 100 clips from film, radio and feature articles on developing world stories. A broad sweep of organisations and journalists, from the BBC to the Coventry Telegraph, were celebrated for their coverage and creativity and dedication to stories that bring the world to the UK.
If you’re a hard-pressed parent or guardian trying to encourage your child to eat a bit more healthily with their ‘five-a-day’ portions of fruit and veg, your job has just been made unnecessarily harder by the BBC and other media outlets.
News coverage of the religious landscape in the United States has in recent years gained visibility because of increased interest in issues related to religion but now faces an uncertain future.
Received ideas about neutrality, ‘news values’ and the place of reporting in current events must be questioned because of the changing global role of the media in an age of conflict, a commentator will suggest at a meeting in St Ethelburga's Centre, London, on 26 June 2007.