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The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation

45: Why Is Religion Reporting So Bad?—Terry Mattingly

The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation

Patrick Coffin

Catholicanswers, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Culture, Society & Culture, Commentary, Americanculture, Catholic, Conservative, Podcast, Christian

4.81.4K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2017

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As a long time reader of GetReligion.org, I know you’ll understand why I know you’ll appreciate this interview with journalist Terry Mattingly, the “GetReligionista in Chief.” Terry is a Russian Orthodox Christian with great sympathy for the worldview of Catholics and other Christians of the small-o orthodox stripe. We can’t seem to get a fair hearing in the media, and Terry is the best commentator on this sorry state of affairs.

Yet, as you’ll learn in this interview, he is neither a doom-and-gloomer nor a paranoid conspiracy theorist. He knows well that some Christians will always do scandalous things worthy of negative press coverage.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The scandalous ignorance of so many religion reporters.
  • The apathy of so many MSM editors regarding getting the facts right about religious faith (as compared with, say, the high standards of accuracy in matters of science, sports, or politics)
  • How to spot biases when it comes to religion reportage (how about the “bad” Christianity of Tim Tebow and the “good” Christianity of Colin Kaepernick?

Rather than succumb to the temptation of throwing a nerf brick at your TV set (or laptop screen), do what I do and learn from Terry Mattingly. Enjoy and share!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Join the Conversation

Question of the week:

  • Why do you think religion reporting is so poor in quality?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to episode number 45 of the Patrick Coffin Show.

0:04.0

Warning, the following podcast contains ideas and arguments that might challenge your worldview.

0:09.0

I don't know what the Potra Coffin Show is. I don't know what the Patrick Coffin show is.

0:13.5

I don't know what it wants.

0:15.5

If it's looking for ransom, I don't have any money.

0:19.5

True or false.

0:21.5

You're tired of secularist bullies punching your values in the face.

0:26.0

You're looking for a smart commentary that doesn't sound like NPR, with our annoying voices.

0:31.0

You're wondering where we're going and why we're in this

0:34.4

hand basket. If you answer true to any of these, you've come to the right place.

0:38.9

You're about to meet the innovators and influencers who are restoring the Judeo Christian foundations of our culture right here on the Patrick Coffin show.

0:50.0

And now here's your host, Patrick Coffin.

0:54.0

Welcome, this is a weekly podcast that features interviews with A-list influencers and outliers in the great work of

1:05.4

restoring the Judeo-Christian roots of the culture and the Western general.

1:09.1

So if you're listening for the very first time and you want to see God back in the public square and you're

1:13.9

not allergic to having a laugh, you, yes you have come to the right place.

1:18.8

Today we're going to talk about religion reporting and why a lot of it sucks and what we can do about

1:22.4

it at least as far as

1:23.4

spotting errors of fact and overt bias goes. We'll take a 10,000 feet above the

1:29.0

tarmac look at religion reporting and I can't think of anyone better with whom to do it than

1:33.7

Terry Mattingly.

1:34.7

Terry writes the nationally syndicated column on religion for the Universal UCLIC

...

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