For a quick scan of headlines regarding religion in the news, the Indian Om Sakthi site maintains a continuously updated list.  A reliable and quick way to get to headlines is to enter the word "religion" in the Search engines on the home pages of daily newspapers.  This works especially well in well-archived newspapers.  Try it with The New York Times and The Washington Post.  Another great way to get to religion news quickly is to visit the "religion" category of 1st headlines.

Religion in U.S. daily newspapers:

A B  C D  E F  G  H  I  J  K L  M N O P  Q  R S T U  V  W  X  Y  Z

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The Associated Press
now offers its online customers a package of wire news under the rubric
of  its "faith" section.  One can access it by checking local papers for their AP offerings.

The APWire locator map is available at

http://wire.ap.org/public_pages/WirePortal.pcgi/us_portal.html

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Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News:

http://www.reporternews.com/2000/religion/col_index.html

• Mostly from Scripps-Howard and KRT (Knight Ridder Tribune), a fine collection of religion writers' columns is maintained at this site.
• One can backtrack from here to the newspaper's religion coverage, most of it local news.
• There's also a three-year archive.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/

• One might have to search the site for "religion" or "faith" to track down religion news here.
• The paper's religion section, called Faith and Values, once won the coveted Schachern award for best religion section in the country given by the Religion Newswriters Association.
• The AJC Web site has a great archive. Plugging in "Faith" and "Values" will give a good representation of its religion coverage.

Austin American-Statesman:

http://www.austin360.com/

• Another good paper whose Web site offers a great search engine that allows one to discover "religion" coverage is fairly extensive.
• The paper partners with a local Web operation called "Austin 360."  Be sure to click on the AAS link to get to the newspaper.
• For fun, type in the search term "Perkes." This will lead to articles written by the paper's religion writer, Kim Sue Lia Perkes.

Baltimore Sun:

http://www.sunspot.net/

• It's not apparent, but putting "religion" in the Sun's site search engine turns up a wide array of pretty good stories, both local and more far reaching.

Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate:

http://www.theadvocate.com/news/religion.asp

• A fine offering of news stories under the rubric of "Facets of Faith." Conveniently, each story on this page is dated with the day of its posting.
• May also be one of the few newspapers that maintains a specific "religion archives."

Birmingham (Ala.) Post Herald:

http://www.postherald.com/religion.shtml

• Lots of local religion coverage.

Boston Globe:

http://www.globe.com/globe/metro/religion/

• As do so many of the major metropolitan dailies, The Globe treats religion news primarily as a Metro topic that only occasionally breaks into the national, world or Washington pages.
• The Globe's rubric for religion is "The Spiritual Life."

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Charlotte Observer:

http://www.charlotte.com/observer/faith/

• Traditionally a good newspaper for covering local religion, especially the Southern Baptists, the online religion page appears a little heavy with Billy Graham's syndicated Q&A column.
• As good as they are in Charlotte, would that they put into religion coverage just part of what goes into covering banking in that city.

Chicago Tribune:

http://chicagotribune.com/

• Probably no newspaper in the country throws resources into its online presence as does the Chicago Tribune, so when this newspaper gets hold of a religion story one can be sure to get a thorough picture.
• As with many metro newspapers, the best gateway to religion news is putting the word "religion" or "faith" in the search option.

Christian Science Monitor:

http://www.csmonitor.com/

• "The Home Forum" section of the Monitor features a daily article on Christian Science. The Monitor also does an outstanding job of finding religion features around the world.
• Perhaps fearing a charge of being a puppet of the Mother Church, however, the CSM rarely allows discussion of religion to enter its analyses and commentaries on national politics and policymaking

Cleveland Plain Dealer:

http://www.cleveland.com/religion/

• The Plain Dealer took it on the chin for its religion coverage at a conference sponsored by The Freedom Forum several years ago, and the newspaper supposedly beefed up its coverage and added a religion section. The resulting Web coverage marks an improvement, but hardly an advancement.

Colorado Springs Gazette-News:

http://www.gazette.com/

• Sitting in the newest mecca of evangelical Christianity, this newspaper should be a leader in integrating religion news into its coverage.
• It's intriguing that a newspaper should include on its Web site a special link to military news but neglect to have a link to religion news.

Columbus Dispatch:

http://libpub.dispatch.com/

Use the Dispatch's search engine to find its "Faith and Values" offerings.

Contra Costa Times:

http://www.hotcoco.com/news/religion/

• Surprisingly good selection of religion news stories at this site.

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Dallas Morning News:

http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/

• One of the best religion sections of any newspaper in the country. Only one question: Does categorizing the news into a special section tend to remove the topic from serious daily national and international news consideration?
• Put another way, I fear many religion sections are simply contemporary means of "ghettoizing" the religion beat instead of taking it seriously as a player in the daily events of our time.

Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/index/religion.htm

• The Freep does a good job of covering religion and posting stories to its Web site. This shouldn't come as a surprise, since Knight-Ridder, the newspaper's parent company, has been a pioneer and leader in online presence and in the hiring of religion writers.
• Unfortunately, the religion news tends toward Metro-local, with few if any analytical pieces or nationally oriented think pieces.

Detroit News:

http://www.detnews.com/

• Good coverage of religion here when its here, but significantly, the Web site of this Gannett paper typically categorizes religion news under the rubric of "features."
• Use the search feature to see what you get.

Easton (Md.) Star-Democrat:

****RIP.  Gone, unfortunately.

• This little paper performs a convenient service in compiling an archive of all the Associated Press feature stories on religion.

Evansville Courier:

http://courier.evansville.net/courier/scoop/religious.html

• Home of "Scoop Cybersleuth," who includes in his bag of tricks a host of "religious interests."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

http://web.star-telegram.com/

• By joining the "Real Cities" cooperative on the Web, this paper buried what could have been the best and most comprehensive religion news site on the WWW.
• Look for any residue of religion coverage under "Lifestyles" sections.

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Holland (Mich.) Sentinel:

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/religion/

• A good site from a newspaper in the heart of the nation for members of the Reformed Church, both Christian Reformed (CRC) and Reformed Church of America (RCA).

Houston Chronicle:

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/religion/index.html

• A strong religion section with perhaps a little too much emphasis on local features and not a lot of commentary or analysis of religion news.

Kansas City Star:

http://www.kcstar.com/fyi/religion/religion.htm

• A good effort at keeping abreast of both local and national religion stories.
• This newspaper's columnist Bill Tammeus is noted for taking the U.S. government to task for not attempting to understand the religion aspects of the infamous raid on David Koresh and his followers near Waco, Texas.

Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/religion/

• The Times runs two pages of religion coverage every Saturday and has most of its religion stories archived at this location.
• Teresa Watanabe, Larry Stammer and Margaret Ramirez are the religion writers for the Times who track down religion angles in hard news. In addition, the Times has an Orange County feature writer and a "Southern Living" feature writer who often take on religion topics.
• Among the nation's major newspapers, The Times sets a pace in religion coverage that others scramble to keep up with. Since the sale of Times-Mirror to the Chicago Tribune owners, and the shifting of key Tribune editors to Los Angeles, it will be interesting to see how the coverage of religion is sustained

Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
 

http://www.startribune.com/

• With a team approach, the Star-Tribune provides extensive religion coverage of the European traditions (Catholic, Lutheran) that dominate the upper Midwest.
• From its home page, one must navigate to "Faith and Values" to find its religion coverage.

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Newsday

http://www.newsday.com/mainnews/faithstory.htm

The 8th largest U.S. daily serving New York's Long Island has a "Faith" section that runs in the print edition on Saturdays.

The paper's current religion writers are Bob Keeler, who won a Pulitzer for his reporting on religion, and Paul Moses; although, Moses informs me those assignments are soon to change.

Ginger Rothe edits what the paper calls its Faith section, an indication that religion news is attracting attention at top newspapers.

New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/info/contents/siteindex.html

• Search the New York Times' archives with the keyword "religion."  Recent stories can be downloaded or e-mailed free of charge.  There is a cost for older archived stories.  The search engine is usually at the top of the home page.
• Another good way to search is to use the correspondent's name. For instance, plugging in "Peter Steinfels," the Times' writer of the "Beliefs" column, produces a good listing of stories; although, again, the bulk are from the "Books" section.
• More newsy items show when one searches with the keyword "Niebuhr," a search for bylines of Times' religion reporter, Gustav Niebuhr.

The Oklahoman:

http://www.oklahoman.com

• Do a search of "today's stories" and plug in the word "religion."
• Interestingly, the newspaper has a daily "prayer" link, but no apparent tie to religion news.

The Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/

• The Oregonian's former religion writer, Mark O'Keefe, won the Overseas Press Club award for his series on the persecution of Christians in other lands.
• The series also won a Wilbur Award in 1999 from the Religious Communicators Conference for O'Keefe.
• Since O'Keefe switched jobs, however, the Oregonian seems to have lost any "faith" news focus.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

http://www.post-gazette.com/

• There was a time, I recall reading, when something like 80 percent of the nation's Presbyterians lived within a 250-mile radius of Pittsburgh. Not the same these days. Neither is the Post-Gazette's religion coverage; although, it occasionally rises to fine heights as in its specials on Orthodox Christmas and on the Dalai Lama.
• Among its columnists is Tony Norman, who always brings a sane religious perspective to his musings on life in America.  Norman has been doing his column now for five years.
• Use the search engine hidden at the bottom of the home page to find both "relgion" and "Tony Norman."

Raleigh News & Observer:

http://www.news-observer.com/

• Like its cross-state competition in Charlotte, the Raleigh paper covers the "faith" beat with a heavy emphasis on the local angles.
• As with so many other daily newspaper sites, the search tool is the best option for tracking down religion news.

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

http://www.gatewayva.com/rtd/saturday/religion/

• Local religion features and not much analysis, the current bane of the religion beat. Nevertheless, a fairly extensive coverage of religion in the region.
• Good roundups in its "religion notes" features.
• The Times-Dispatch is in the process of totally revamping its Web presence (as of July 29, 2001).  We'll see what the new design brings in the form of religion news.

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Salt Lake Tribune:

http://www.sltrib.com/links/sectlinks.asp?subject=religion

• As might be expected in the heart of Mormon country, the Tribune almost daily has a religion story, most of them locally generated and exceptionally well done. This page is the Tribune's collection of religion links for those interested in the subject, a page that very few newspapers across the nation provide on their Web sites.

San Antonio Express-News:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/

• Easy-to-spot daily headline roundup makes finding religion news somewhat easier here, but there's no search feature to assist in the excursion.
• On the whole, the coverage of the Express-News is better than most but still lacking a hard news edge.

San Jose Mercury News:

http://www.mercurycenter.com/resources/search/

• The pioneering online newspaper doesn't post a religion section, but if one clicks on the site's search facility and plugs in the word "religion," one discovers a fairly good offering of religion news.

Shawnee (Okla.) Star-News:

http://www.news-star.com/

• Heavy local coverage of religion here after some navigation to the coverage.

Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.):

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/allcat.asp?cat=Religion

• A fairly extensive offering of local religion news with the national wire coverage added in.
• Somewhat convoluted route to "religion news" through its site index, but worth the effort to find some good stories.

St. John's (Newfoundland) Telegram:

http://www.thetelegram.com/

• Hans Rollman, a professor of religious studies at Newfoundland's Memorial University in St. John's, maintains a religious studies site, and writes a monthly religion column for The Telegram, the island's largest newspaper. Hollman's columns, however, tend to focus more on Newfoundland politics than on religion.
• Use the search tool of the newspaper to find religion stories of interest.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

http://home.post-dispatch.com/

• When the pope visited St. Louis, the P-D could hardly afford to ignore religion, but in this hotbed of European ethnic influence religion news can hardly be ignored anyway.
• It's not easy to find religion news here, though.  I'm always intrigued by the thinking of Web executives who offer a PDF of their front page but no search tool.  Incidentally, going to the partnering host page of St. Louis Today will provide a search engine and eventually get to religion news.

St. Paul Pioneer Press:

http://www.pioneerplanet.com/living/index.htm#religion

"News on all things sacred and secular," the site's blurb promises about its religion section. Unfortunately, this news is relegated to the living section. In fairness, however, it must be admitted the Pioneer-Press does a better-than-average job of covering significant religion news.

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Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune:

http://www.tribnet.com/

• Two or three good religion stories each day find their way into the pages of this newspaper and on to its fine Web site.

USAToday:

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/

• No special religion section here, and religion stories are covered by a wide variety of reporters from several different sections of the newspaper.
• To get at the religion stories, the best approach is to search the site with the keyword "religion." This turns up a fine index of stories, and my casual search indicates that about 10 percent are page-one stories, although almost half of those were focussed on the pope's visit to the U.S.
• By the way, it will cost browsers $1 per story to view the entire text from USAToday's search engine.

Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/m-religion.html

• Every Saturday the Post devotes a section to Religion. Despite this, the Post is not exactly among the leaders in treating religion as news.
• Religion as politics? That's a horse in a different race, one might say.
• Try searching for stories by Post writer Bill Broadway.

Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal:

http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/search/index.shtml

• A fine offering of religion. One gets the impression North Carolina's newspapers are playing "keeping up with the competition" in their religion coverage, with Charlotte and Raleigh as leaders.
• As is more the rule than the exception with newspaper Web sites, one must rely on the search feature to track down religion news.

Winter Haven (Fla.) News Chief:

http://polkonline.com/

• A fine bit of religion coverage in this daily newspaper of Polk County, Florida, which has its own religion writer, something that many small papers don't deem necessary.
• It's a publication of Morris Communications, which has a bit of a reputation for putting style, especially technological style, ahead of substance, though it does own some tough little newspapers (Augusta Journal, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal).
• Back in 1954, the newspaper had its own faith tested when it was destroyed by fire and had to continue publication from another location.

Yakima (Wash.) Herald:

http://www.yakima-herald.com/

The newspaper's online "Body and Soul" section offers several fine religion stories.

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Introduction: Religion journalism on the WWW.

Some newspapers, the New York Times among them, do not have specific religion sections but nevertheless do an excellent job of covering religion as news.  Typically, one can get access to these stories with a simple "religion" search on any given day.   Good newspapers typically post their print stories to their Web sites, and this is increasingly becoming the rule rather than the exception.  Some editors and publishers, paranoid about loss of revenue with their print editions, continue to hold stories from the Internet, though this is less likely to happen with a religion story.

Several newspapers cover religion but do not single it out for special section treatment. It's an uneven call on whether they post religion news and highlight it on their Web sites. More often than not, the best way to find religion news is to go to the Web site's index or search tool and search for "religion" stories. Sometimes, the religion reporter's byline can be searched.
 

My complaint with most newspapers stems from their relegating religion news to the "soft" news of "family" and "lifestyle" sections and not recognizing it as a powerful life force that motivates and guides many personal and national world views and decisions -- what I'd prefer to call a "worldview" (see my commentary, "God: Features or Live News"). Religion columnist Terry Mattingly observes that many editors get "sweaty palms" when they encounter religion news.  Issues tend to drive religion news to the front pages.  A good example is current discussion of clergy sexuality or the beatification of potential saints.  Still, many American editors wouldn't recognize a significant religion story if it smacked them with a right cross, a crescent roll or a bottle of Manischewitz.

Religion news fights an uphill battle. The failure of United States' policy makers to grasp the significance of religion in the Islamic revolution of the late 1970s in Iran, as well as America's general disregard of religion's underground role in the fall of the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union in the early 1990s can in part be laid at the feet of the U.S. media's disdain for religion as a significant factor in the news. In the early days of the Islamic fundamentalist revolution in Iran, few journalists even attempted an understanding of the Ayatollah and his followers. Similarly, when Billy Graham emerged from a crusade behind the Iron Curtain to claim he found a vibrant faith among the people there, most journalists dismissed his comments as they would those of a biased salesman.

In many ways, the WWW opens the way for highlighting and possibly overcoming the dilemma of religion news by not only opening an unlimited space for such reports but also allowing posted stories to remain in place almost interminably, thereby gaining wider exposure. A good example of this is the Freedom Forum's free! site of First Amendment news related to religion. Of course, wider exposure cannot atone for lack of depth in the original report.

A classic example of media disdain for religious analysis of international and national issues shows in the U.S. media's hot and cold coverage of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. As long as Solzhenitsyn was critical of the Soviet system, the U.S. media hailed him as a champion for the cause of justice. However, once he began berating the United States and the West for lack of faith and consistent moral and religious world views -- as he did in a 1978 commencement address at Harvard University -- the media turned away as they would from some carnival barker or streetcorner preacher.

The media have made similar disdaining errors in their treatment of religions other than Christianity. To a degree, America's negative stereotypic view of Middle Eastern Muslims is a result of poor coverage and meager understanding of foreign religions by the media. For all the economic analyses of the nations surrounding the Persian Gulf there have been far too few religious analyses.

I am not arguing that there is an anti-Christian bias in the media, as has been done by some conservative critics. I believe, however, that a general disdain or disregard for religion as news pervades the major media outlets. Religion simply is not a category in many editors' critical toolbags.

Many newspapers that do a decent job in covering religion don't transfer that good coverage to their Web sites. Some, on the other hand, attempt to tap the Web's potential for strong, in-depth coverage of religion. Some of the best coverage comes from denominational wire services and newspapers published under the auspices of branches of the faith. This is particularly true, for example, of Jewish publications covering events in the Mideast. To tap some of this rich potential, see my denominational and branch listings.

For a review of religion as journalists approach it, consult the Religion in the News site of the Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life.

My site aims to provide an overview of American journalism's coverage of religion news and the Web resources that lead to and reinforce that coverage. I've written elsewhere my assessment of how religion news gets covered.

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Additional Religion News Pages at this site:
 

Religion Web resources: journals of opinion and commentary

Journalist's online religion resources

Denominational news services and newspapers

A Journalist's Online Glossary of Religion (in progress)

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Return to WebSites for Journalists
 

Allan R. Andrews can be contacted at allan.andrews@reporters.net