Masterclass 49: Reporting on religion

49a

 

Religion is an overlooked beat

It shouldn’t be

It’s not nearly as power-focused as politics or business, as adventurous-seeming as international journalism or as sexy as music, film or showbiz.

But it is a great place to find stories.

And the range of stories the religion beat throws up is enormous.

We in the West tend to think of our societies as becoming increasingly secularised. There are predictions of religious observance dying out in some.

Yet issues of faith, religious belief, observance and sometimes-conflicting moral frameworks based on a given religion impact on our politics, our social policy, questions of human rights, education, crime and many other areas.

So here we’ll try to make the case for choosing the religion beat.

Along the way we’ll look at these key points:

Next: Why should you want to report on religion?

Investigative Journalism