Late, great proof that faithful progressives get left behind
Today, Media Matters for America, along with Faith in Public Life and progressive religious leaders from throughout the country, held a press conference to discuss "Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in the Major News Media," a new report documenting the overrepresentation of conservative religious figures in the major news media. Go here to sign a petition calling on major news media to balance their coverage!
Over at CrossWalk America, Dr. Eric Elnes who walked across America with a band of progressive Christians writes that he knows that media skew well. On his blog he writes: “What does a progressive Christian have to do to attract media attention?” asked CrossWalk America’s co-president, Dr. Eric Elnes in exasperation after reading the Bakker story in the Star. “Do we have to stand naked in the middle of town?”
In the press release, Media Matters for America and Faith in Public Life point out that:
In their coverage, news organizations overwhelmingly presented a picture in which religious Americans were defined as conservative Americans. This representation in the media proved to be a misleading characterization of how these so-called “values voters” influenced the 2006 elections, in which the “value” cited most by voters was the Iraq war, not issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.Here are the key findings:
* Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders we studied were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders between November 3, 2004 -- the day after the 2004 presidential election -- and December 31, 2006.
* On television news -- the three major television networks, the three major cable channels, and PBS -- conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.
* In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.
Interestingly this has clearly struck a nerve as Fidelis (Defending Life, Faith, and Family) just put out a press release telling people not to take it seriously because the speakers are too progressive. On the other hand, Rev. Deb doesn't think they are progressive enough and she suggests some other leaders the media could call. Some of them are here in the Faith in Public Life Voicing Faith Media Bureau.
Read the groundbreaking report here: Left Behind: The Skewered Representation of Religion in Major News Media.
Comments
So, if religious progressives aren't getting their message across, what is the message? Seriously, I would like to know. I've met very few religious liberals, and I'm curious how their ideas differ from the majority of religious types I have met.
Posted by: Michael | May 30, 2007 9:34 AM
Strange - I've met many religious liberals. Perhaps that's because I live in LA.
Perhaps one start on our beliefs is the Call to Renewal Isaiah Platform:
"We recognize that budgets are moral documents that reflect our values and priorities. All tax policies and spending proposals should be evaluated with a publicly available analysis of how they assist people in overcoming poverty and strengthening families and communities."
"As a society we must commit to supporting all who work and those unable to work by providing:
* a living family income
* affordable housing
* educational opportunity for their children with the goal of reducing the number of children in poverty by half in ten years
* quality healthcare
* adequate nutrition"
"We must commit to significantly reducing the number of people worldwide who experience extreme poverty, in cooperation with other nations, through a foreign policy that sees just trade, effective international aid, and reducing the debt of impoverished nations as central to our national and global security."
On top of that, we fight for a consistent ethic of life, including pro-peace, pro-human rights, and doing everything possible to reduce abortion.
I know that only gives a glimpse of those of us who consider ourselves religious and progressive - everyone else feel free to chime in.
Posted by: Jonathan | May 30, 2007 10:21 AM
