Reporting Religion beyond the Conflict Frame

Perhaps if journalists were more educated and experienced in the universal teachings of Christ, Muhammad, Siddharta, and Baha’ulah, we would see more enlightened coverage of religionrelated issues from environmental conservation, world hunger, and poverty to sectarian conflicts, population displacement, and fair trade. Add to this utopian state of journalism the philosophies of Gandhi, Gibran, Plato, Confucius and Ibn Sina1 - the media might be much richer in its coverage of ethno-religious affairs. Which is attainable – if journalists take time to reflect on alternative methods of reporting when, amid fast breaking news and competition to be first with the stories online, accuracy in content and context is occasionally compromised for immediacy. The unintended consequence is the homogenization of media coverage of world affairs, a tendency to report what everyone else is reporting. This reflective article shows examples of how the homogenization of religion-related issues occurs in today’s journalism. It concludes with a few proactive journalism models to take reporting of religion beyond the dominant conflict frame.