Blog Post 5- Religion in Journalism

In, The mind of a Journalist, the author, Jim Willis, goes into great detail about the role that faith plays within journalism and journalists personal lives.  He points out there is and overall idea that journalists are devoid of beliefs because they should be detached in order to effectively cover stories and avoid any biases.  However Willis does go to great lengths to show that there is a place for religious beliefs and still remain to be a great journalist.

I agree with Willis' assessment that you can hold deep religious convictions and still remain objective in covering different stories.  As journalists we live by the motto of verification and not assertion.  Journalists are there to describe events and report an accurate of portrayal of the news.  Journalists for the most part should not be inserting opinions into their writing.  Also as your responsibility to the reader you should be able to cover all of the facts and let them decide what might be right or wrong, or what side they stand on.  I do not feel that there is a place for journalists to share their beliefs int he stories they cover.

If they do come across stories that involve religion then they need to check those at the door and again stick to the main stories and the facts that are there.  I think Willis points another good example that we should allow the subjects of the story to explain their views their own way rather than trying to tell the readers about it through our own most likely distorted goggles.  As long as journalists remember that they are not their to extol their faith and to supply their readers with facts then I do think it is very possible to still believe in a higher power, or not, and be a great journalist.