The nine most terrifying words in the English language: “I’m a New York Times reporter writing about #exposechristianschools.” https://t.co/jicqp5LwaJ
— Bill McGurn (@wjmcgurn) January 29, 2019
“Reporter Trolls Christian Schools” was the headline on a recent Wall Street Journal column after a New York Times reporter asked for feedback from people who had attended Christian schools.
A lot of conservatives saw the request — tied to the viral hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools that emerged after headlines over Vice President Mike Pence’s wife, Karen, teaching at an evangelical school — as a pretense for a looming hit piece.
In fact, the actual New York Times article published drew praise from some, including a Southern Baptist minister who called it “insightful reporting and not one-sided negative.”
Me? I didn’t find the piece terribly insightful, enlightening or revealing of Christian school experiences that I know about.
This will give you an idea of the tone: The Times starts with quotes from those who “struggled with bullying and depression” at Christian schools, moves to quotes from those who “experienced lasting pain and confusion” at Christian schools and finishes with — this must be the “not one-sided negative” part — those who “shared stories of love and acceptance of others” at Christian schools.
Got a different view of the article? Feel free to comment below.
Now, let’s dive into the Friday Five:
Two Corinthians walk into a public school: Some tips for journalists covering Trump and Bible literacy https://t.co/I1spJ2vxO3 #religion #journalism #Godbeat
— Bobby Ross Jr. (@bobbyross) January 28, 2019
1. Religion story of the week: This is one of those weeks when a single story or issue didn’t really stand out. So let’s go with President Donald Trump’s tweet supporting Bible literacy courses in public schools.
I wrote an entire post about this subject earlier this week, and since I see our analytics, I know many of you missed reading it.
So here’s another chance to check it out.
Big news on New York’s child sexual abuse law — buried in 22nd paragraph of Gray Lady’s story https://t.co/HtDOxtsXbY
— Terry Mattingly (@tweetmattingly) January 30, 2019
2. Most popular GetReligion post: Talk about burying the lede.
Our No. 1 most-clicked item of the week is Editor Terry Mattingly’s commentary headlined “Big news on New York’s child sexual abuse law — buried in 22nd paragraph of Gray Lady’s story.“
Hint: If you missed it, read that post all the way to the end.
Jemar Tisby’s new book, “The Color of Compromise,” pushes back on the notion that white supremacy is merely a legacy, and not a present reality, in the church. @emmaogreen writes: https://t.co/Y4qskiMpFx
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 29, 2019
3. Guilt folder fodder (and more): A reader contacted GetReligion to complain that a book review by The Atlantic said that the Presbyterian Church in America was first formed to defend slavery.
By the time I clicked the link, though, The Atlantic had fixed the problem and — to its credit — appended a correction:
*A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Presbyterian Church in America was first formed to defend slavery. We regret the error.
We live in an age where some publications are not really running corrections. They just fix the website and move on, silently. This was an important correction.
Warning to reporters: Presbyterian history is complicated, so be careful.
There comes a time to look ahead to retirement. That time has come for @tweetmattingly. And #GetReligion? https://t.co/IJlAU6fMS1
— GetReligion (@GetReligion) January 31, 2019
4. Shameless plug: Our own tmatt celebrated a milestone birthday this week and wrote about both his own future and some of what might be ahead for this journalism-focused website.
By all means, read his important post.
BreakPoint: The Faith of Mariano Rivera. The Hammer of God Heads to Cooperstown https://t.co/y0kmikCS9M pic.twitter.com/LcyRFig2p1
— Bobby Ross Jr. (@bobbyross) February 1, 2019
5. Final thought: Yes, there’s a faith angle to the story of Mariano Rivera, the first player elected unanimously to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Time for a mainstream-media update on his life and ministries?
Happy Friday, everybody!
Enjoy the weekend!
ybvdadminuser
