BOOK EXAMINING
RELIGION AND THE
SECULAR MEDIA WINS
AWARD FOR
“EXCELLENCE”
Washington, DC -
The new book,
Blind Spot: When
Journalists Don’t
Get Religion,
co-edited by Paul
Marshall, Lela
Gilbert and Roberta
Green Ahmanson, will
receive the Wilbur
Award from the
Religion
Communicators
Council. The award
recognizes
“excellence in the
communication of
religious issues,
values and themes in
the secular media.”
Blind
Spot,
published by Oxford
University Press,
analyzes news
stories reported by
major media sources
in which key
religious dimensions
were ignored,
overlooked, or
misrepresented.
These stories
include: terrorism,
the U.S.
presidential
elections, Iran,
Iraq, and the papal
succession. The
book was sponsored
by The Media
Project, Oxford
Centre for Religion
and Public Life.(www.ocrpl.org)
“The editors have
assembled a
top-flight team of
scholars and writers
to build the case
brick by solid
brick. It is now an
unassailable truth:
without an
understanding of
religion, a
journalist can miss
the greatest stories
of our time,” writes
Ari Goldman of the
Columbia University
Graduate School of
Journalism.
The authors argue
that in today’s
complex and
pervasively
religious world,
understanding
religion is vital in
accurately reporting
and interpreting
current events and
that all too
frequently
journalists and
commentators do not
take religion
seriously and
therefore fail to
grasp the religious
context of the news.
Co-editors Roberta
Green Ahmanson and
Paul Marshall will
accept the award on
behalf of the
authors during the
March 28, 2009
ceremonies at the
Royal Sonesta Hotel
Boston in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The
Wilbur’s are named
for Marvin C.
Wilbur, a pioneer in
the field of
religious
communication.
Additional
information on
Blind Spot: When
Journalists Don’t
Get Religion can
be found at:
http://www.blindspotreligion.com
The Media Project of
the Oxford Centre
for Religion and
Public Life is a
non-profit 501(c)(3)
organization
dedicated to
creating a dialogue
on religious issues
between journalists,
academics and
religious leaders.
###
For more
information please
call Dr. Arne H.Fjeldstad of The
Media Project of the
Oxford Centre for
Religion and Public
Life (www.ocrpl.org)
at (SkypeIn): (202)
580 8685 or e-mail:
fjeldstad@ocrpl.org
