Regarding the mainstream media’s superficial coverage of religion, is the sticking point excessive evenhandedness or simple ignorance? Two lefty bloggers differed Friday on that issue.
First, Paul Waldman wrote on The Washington Post’s Plum Line blog that reporters don’t like asking the presidential candidates “about the specifics of their faith and how it might influence their day-to-day decision making…because they’re worried that it will come off sounding like criticism of the candidates’ beliefs.” Waldman concluded, “With religious conservatives engaged in an aggressive campaign to secure special religious privileges in realms like commerce and politics, it matters greatly what the candidates think God wants them to do. But we won’t know unless we ask.”
Kevin Drum of Mother Jones, however, countered that journalists worry not about appearing biased but rather about getting overmatched by politicians who are well-versed in Scripture, exegesis, and so on (bolding added):
[M]ost mainstream reporters aren't very religious themselves and don't think they can keep up their end of an interview about faith. When the Rev. Jeremiah Wright says "God damn America," that's catnip for the press: it's not really about religion, it's about somebody saying something outrageous and then tallying up the responses. Easy peasy. But a serious discussion about the ins and outs of various faith traditions and how different candidates ended up where they did? It's sort of like talking about the details of handgun design. There's a serious chance of a liberal journalist embarrassing himself badly.
The reason I don't think that mainstream journalists are genuinely worried about religious questions coming off as criticism is because plenty of journalists do ask questions about religious faith. And presidential candidates talk to them. The thing is, these are mostly journalists for religious publications, who have the background to talk about this stuff without sounding ignorant. Mainstream reporters are well aware of this, and well aware that most presidential candidates are happy to talk about it. They're just uneasy about their ability to do the job right.
