There’s not a lot of religion reporting in Canada nowadays. When institutional religion declined, the “religion beat” did too.
Jacob McNair has been digging into religion reporting for an upcoming feature in the Ryerson Review of Journalism. He talks about why religion reporting is “pretty sparse” in Canada, gaps in mainstream coverage, and how the denominational press has changed in response.
Then Jacob speaks with Mary Hynes, host of CBC Radio’s Tapestry, a show about spirituality and the search for meaning. She talks about covering a subject that sometimes “defies what we think of as news”—and why these stories are still relevant.
Jacob McNair’s feature, “Spiritual Journey: In search of Canada’s remaining religion reporters” will be published in the Ryerson Review of Journalism this April.
Shownotes:
–New York Times executive editor on NPR: “We don’t get religion”: https://www.npr.org/2016/12/08/504806512/new-york-times-executive-editor-on-the-new-terrain-of-covering-trump
-Writing from Douglas Todd, spirituality, migration and diversity reporter at the Vancouver Sun:
“The rise of Indigenous members of the Baha’i faith”
“Instead of Gretta Vosper’s atheism, Canadian clergy choose alternative views”
-Listen to CBC Radio’s Tapestry, a show about spirituality and our search for meaning: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry
Angus Reid poll on faith and religion in public life: http://angusreid.org/faith-public-square/
-Steven Zhou, freelance journalist and columnist for the Islamic Monthly: https://zhoujournal.wordpress.com/thoughts/
-The United Church Observer: http://www.ucobserver.org/
-The Canadian Jewish News, Canada’s last national Jewish newspaper: http://www.cjnews.com/
-Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation: https://www.saltandlighttv.org/
