Journalism and Faith

I feel that society can put faith in journalism if journalists leave faith out of their stories. Earlier in the semester we talked about the importance of objectivity in journalism. It is important for journalists to keep their biases and opinions out of their stories so that readers can make up their own opinions about various topics. I feel that if journalists try to implement their faith into journalism then the truth can become biased and swayed to the point where it is lost all together.

That being said, I also feel that if faith is newsworthy then it's okay to incorporate it into stories. However, journalists should never implement their beliefs into their work if it does not pertain to what is being covered.

In class we saw an example of an LDS news anchor who used a quote from and LDS apostle when covering a story on a non LDS governor (that's a lot of LDS's). I do not feel that this was harmful because the anchor did not promote his religion at all, but rather used a quote that fit with the story. However, I do not agree with the anchor's decision to promote his use of quote on his Facebook page. I feel that this action promoted his faith which had nothing to do with the story.

After doing some research on this topic it is apparent that if journalists have to cover religious topics they should treat the topics as they would any other subject and remain as neutral as possible: "You try to tell the story as best you can, covering the church the way you would City Hall or the White House" (John L. Allen Jr, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter). It is interesting to see that even writers for the National Catholic Hall believe that remaining neutral is crucial to journalism (see full story here).

In addition, this article also points out that religious journalists might not be all that bad. This is because many religious journalists use their church's morals as they go about their journalistic endeavors: "You cannot practice Christianity and a journalism that takes away dignity, that has no compassion, that exploits pain and misery. That’s not good journalism, and it’s certainly not anything that Christ taught" (Terry Anderson, formerly of the Associated Press). I feel that this statement rings true because many journalists will write or refuse to write several stories based on their religious moral principles.

I believe that religion in journalism can be very tricky. Religious people are usually passionate about their beliefs, and usually want to share their viewpoints with others. However, because journalists have to be neutral in their reporting, it can be very challenging to figure out when it is appropriate to share their beliefs with others.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am very opinionated when it comes to my faith. Furthermore, as members of this church we are often encouraged to seek out and share our beliefs with the people around us. However, as a future broadcast journalist it is crucial that I find a balance of sharing my beliefs and remaining neutral.