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POLITICS DOMINATES RELIGION NEWS
(Chicago Tribune Wire Services, May 5, 2000) WASHINGTON National media coverage of religion doubled during the 1990s, but most of it addressed political issues rather than faith, spirituality or theology, a new study says. The Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonpartisan research organization, analyzed a random sample of 2,365 stories that appeared between 1969 and 1998 in The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report and the evening newscasts on ABC, NBC and CBS. The study also said more journalists are religiously inclined. Comparing 1980 with 1995, major media journalists who said they had no religious affiliation dropped to 22 percent from 50 percent, while those who regularly worshiped rose to 30 percent from 14 percent. Among other conclusions: The most frequently covered religions between 1969 and 1998 were Protestantism (38 percent of all coverage), Catholicism (28 percent), Judaism (12 percent), Islam (3 percent) and Eastern religions (2 percent). The most frequently debated topics were sexual morality, church-state relations, women's issues, church governance and minority concerns. Coverage of alleged crimes and scandals involving churches and clerics tripled from the 1970s to the 1990s. (Chicago Tribune Wire Services, May 05, 2000)
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