The United States is one of the most religiously diverse democracies in the history of the world. Religion reporters play a crucial role in highlighting stories that make up our interfaith America. Storytelling about religion can mean covering religious holidays and sacred rituals, documenting the biases and prejudices that minority religious groups face, and highlighting ways that faith communities come together to work side by side for projects in their community. As demographics of the United States changes, so does our religious make up, and so will the stories we tell.
To explore the dynamic field of religion journalism, Religion News Service and Interfaith America Magazine editorial teams invited several of the nation’s finest religion reporters and commentators to speak as a part of the 2021-22 RNS/Interfaith America Religion Journalism Fellowship.
The six veteran Jounalists shared wisdom on religion reporting, the challenges they face, their trade secrets, and lessons from their careers.
Below are excerpts from those conversations with Yonat Shimron and Adelle Banks of Religion News Service; Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times; Whitney Bauck, Independent Journalist; Sarah Pulliam Bailey of The Washington Post; Wajahat Ali; and Monique Parsons of Interfaith America Magazine. They have been edited for clarity and length.