The Epoch Times | Religious Progressives Say the News Media Are Not Fair

Washington, D.C.—A diverse group of progressive religious leaders accused the major media outlets of much more coverage of politically conservative religious figures than progressive religious leaders, in a news conference on May 29 at the National Press Club.

They contend that when seeking the views of a religious spokesperson, the media is most likely to quote a religious conservative rather than a religious progressive. They called on major media outlets to provide a more balanced expression of religious values and views.

"The overwhelming presence in the news media of conservative religious voices leads to the false implication that to be religious is to be conservative, and worse, that to be progressive is to lack faith or even to be against faith...," said Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

"…our progressive voices are at a distinct disadvantage compared to conservative access to print and TV representation," complained Rev. Dr. Jim Forbes, former Senior Pastor of The Riverside Church in New York City and host of "The Time Is Now" on Air America.

Rev. Bob Edgar, former congressman and General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches, gave a personal experience of what he regarded as unfair media coverage. He spoke of two events which attracted a similar number of participants.

With the 10,000 accredited journalists in Washington, D.C., said Rev Edgar, he expected some media coverage when on March 16, about 3,000 Christian protesters to the Iraq War held a worship service at the National Cathedral and then marched 3.5 miles to Lafayette Park across from the White House, where Rev Edgar joined 221 others, who were arrested in an act of civil disobedience. There was "virtually no media coverage of the event," lamented Rev Edgar.

By contrast, on July 18, 2006, about 3,000 "Christian Zionists" held a banquet at the Washington Hilton ballroom, and this made front page news in the Wall Street Journal, said Rev. Edgar.

In addition to Rabbi Saperstein, Rev. Forbes, and Rev. Edgar, other well-known speakers included Rev. Brian McLaren, Christian evangelical, author, Board Chairman of the Sojourners/Call to Renewal; and Alexia Kelley, principal founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.

"Value Voters" in the 2004 Election

The impetus for these concerns of progressive religious leaders for the media's coverage of religious views was the 2004 presidential election. Exit polls and immediate interpretations of the election results suggested that "moral values" determined the outcome, and some leading newspapers took this position.

Conservative religious voters, motivated by same-sax marriage and abortion, were said to be the factor that turned George W. Bush's lack of majority vote in 2000 into a majority of 3 millions votes in 2004. Later analysis questioned the questionnaire methodology used in the exit polls which grouped "moral values" alongside issues like the war in Iraq or the economy.

The speakers at this news conference resent the implication that religious progressives do not care similarly about values. They say that "moral values" are too narrowly defined by the media and that war and peace, poverty, and global warming—controversial issues that progressive religious leaders frequently speak about—deserve more coverage in keeping with the views of the majority of Americans. They say it is wrong that "…a handful of vocal religious figures advocating extremely conservative political views, many with close ties to the Republican Party, represent the face of religion in America today," writes Karl Frisch, from Media Matters, who co-hosted this event.

Media Matters' Study of Media Coverage of Prominent Ministers

The invited speakers at the news conference have long suspected a conservative bias in the media when representing religious opinion, and they said their suspicions were confirmed by a new study conducted by a progressive "media watchdog" organization, Media Matters for America.

Media Matters was one of the two progressive organizations to call this news conference. Media Matters describes itself as a "progressive research and information center" that "corrects conservative misinformation in the media daily." It is not a religious organization. The other sponsor was Faith in Public Life, a nonpartisan organization whose goal is to increase "the strength and visibility of faith leaders working for justice and the common good."

Beginning the day after the 2004 election and continuing through 2006, the study assessed "print media coverage in major newspapers and televised coverage on the three major networks, three major cable networks, and PBS," according to the report. They identified the 10 leading conservative religious leaders and 10 leading progressive religious leaders. Then the study counted the frequency with which these individuals were interviewed, and quoted, and mentioned in a news story. A few of the findings include:

On television news, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed nearly 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders. Looking at just who is quoted, the top conservative religious leaders were quoted 4.6 times as often as the top progressive leaders. There were 7.3 "mentions" of conservative religious leaders for every mention of a progressive religious leader.
In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.

Top 10 Progressive Religious Leaders	Top 10 Conservative Religious Leaders
Jim Wallis	Tony Perkins
Michael Lerner	Gary Bauer
Robert Edgar	Richard Land
Tony Campolo	Charles Colson
Welton Gaddy	Ted Haggard
David Saperstein	Tom Minnery
John H. Thomas	Wendy Wright
Joan Chittister	Rod Parsley
Brian McLaren	Franklin Graham
Jim Forbes	Bill Donohue

The reader may be wondering why this list of leading religious speakers does not include familiar names like James Dobson (Focus on the Family), Pat Robertson, and the late Jerry Falwell, on the conservative side, and Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, on the progressive side.

Whenever these five speak, regardless of what they say, they are "newsmakers," argued Mr. Frisch. Their celebrity status would confound whatever opinion they may give the media. The Media Matter study, therefore, excluded these five as well as some other prominent ministers who were difficult to classify ideologically.

The results cannot be accepted with the same trust that a nonpartisan organization's work might be. Still, the methodology is straightforward and could be easily replicated. Moreover, the conclusions are quantifiable and do not depend on anyone's subjective interpretation of bias in the news stories examined. The Media Matters' study can be found at: www.mediamatters.org/LeftBehind.

Media Matters spokesmen, Karl Frisch, and principal author of the report, explained that their study does not try to prove a conservative bias in the actual news stories, but only that the amount of coverage of a conservative religious perspective is much greater than a progressive religious perspective. The data make clear, says Frisch, that when television news or newspapers want a religious voice, by a three to four time advantage, they turn to conservatives.

Joseph Cella, who heads Fidelis, a religious conservative group, spoke to a few reporters after this news conference. He dismissed the Media Matters report as "left wing politics disguised as religion." He said there is a reason that "socially conservative populations in America today are flourishing, while liberal religious movements are fracturing." The members of the panel have lost touch with religious Americans, particularly on matters concerning the sanctity of all human life and traditional marriage," said Cella.

Rev. Edgar said their issues were "peace, poverty, and planet earth." They just want the media to become more balanced in its coverage. "Media plays an important role in defining issues," said Kelley. However, the panel members generally conceded that progressive religious ideas haven't captured the media's interest as well as the conservative religious ideas. They say conservatives oversimplify issues and are better at "sloganeering."