More finance needed for religion reporting say journalists  

by Orla Clinton
Ecumenical News International

UPPSALA, Sweden — Religion writers and journalists covering humanitarian affairs have noted there is a dire need for the funding of religious affairs reporting. 

      Speakers at a symposium here called for continued financial support to sustain credible reporting on religious affairs and the activities of churches. The round-table of writers and journalists from around the world representing regional ecumenical news agencies and other news organizations gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of Ecumenical News International. The event was hosted by the Church of Sweden’s communications department. 

      John Dart, 2004 winner of an American Academy of Religion in-depth reporting award and news editor of The Christian Century magazine, said there was a climate for good quality news stories dealing with religion. But he stressed that journalism should treat religion news with the same professional skills and judgment that it applies to other areas of human endeavor.

      “Besides raising spirits, religious institutions at their best preach fairness, morality and doing the right thing,” said Dart, who was formerly a journalist on the Los Angeles Times for 30 years covering religion. “These goals I dare say, are hallmarks also of the press and the pulpit,” he said. Dart noted that professionals reporting religion have the ability to introduce people to a fascinating world.

      However, Dart also lamented the financial constraints facing specialized news reporting issues such as religion. This led to more general reporting often only focusing on topics such as religious scandals or conflicts about human sexuality and not covering the full spectrum of the world of religion. 

      The president of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), Musimbi Kanyoro, also pointed out the constraints and varying contexts in which religious media operate.

      Alluding to the digital divide between people of the global South and the resource-rich North, Kanyoro expressed concern about the inability of people to react to events, saying that little information reaches down to where there is a real starvation of news. 

      “A prophetic news service is one that tries to interpret the signs of the times, communicating as many aspects of the argument as it takes and coming down on the side of justice and equality,” said Kanyoro, who is also general secretary of the World Young Women’s Christian Association.

      She said she had more questions than answers concerning the future of international ecumenical news, stating that the churches’ communication must be “strategic, tackling social and cultural issues from the perspective of Gospel values such as justice, equality and inclusiveness.

      “It must be prophetic, identifying growing issues of concern, to empower millions of disenfranchised individuals, by standing in solidarity with them and telling their stories,” she pleaded. 

      The symposium acknowledged that news agencies covering church affairs and religion, such as ENI, have a unique role in highlighting the life of the church.  However, the meeting took a critical look at religious affairs media to examine the various challenges facing such media in the 21st century. 

      The journalists in Uppsala said they would endeavor to work more closely with one another to make best use of their resources, an idea stressed by Ramesh Jaura, European regional coordinator of the Inter-Press Service news agency, in his presentation to the symposium.  

      He said, “Don’t regard people who might be your competitors in future to be enemies today,” as he explained the fact that agencies that might one day become rivals should not prevent cooperation now.