18/12: How the Media Covered Religion in the 08 Presidential Campaign
Category: Religion & Public Policy
Posted by: an okie gardener
The Pew Forum has completed and released this study of media coverage of religious issues during the presidential campaign.
Religion played a much more significant role in the media coverage of President-elect Barack Obama than it did in the press treatment of Republican nominee John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign, but much of the coverage related to false yet persistent rumors that Obama is a Muslim.
Meanwhile, there was little attempt by the news media during the campaign to comprehensively examine the role of faith in the political values and policies of the candidates, save for those of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
And when religion-focused campaign stories were covered by the mainstream press, often the context was negative, controversial or focused on a perceived political problem.
The whole article is informative. One conclusion I have: when media types try to investigate religious issues, they become unprepared foreign correspondents.
Religion played a much more significant role in the media coverage of President-elect Barack Obama than it did in the press treatment of Republican nominee John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign, but much of the coverage related to false yet persistent rumors that Obama is a Muslim.
Meanwhile, there was little attempt by the news media during the campaign to comprehensively examine the role of faith in the political values and policies of the candidates, save for those of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
And when religion-focused campaign stories were covered by the mainstream press, often the context was negative, controversial or focused on a perceived political problem.
The whole article is informative. One conclusion I have: when media types try to investigate religious issues, they become unprepared foreign correspondents.
