What does a journalist say when someone asks if you are saved? How do you respond when queried about your church?
Often Christian journalists do not feel comfortable talking about their own faith while on the job, not out of fear but more because that information can be used against them.
During a Religion Newswriters Association convention in Colorado Springs, journalists shared how they respond to the "Are you saved?" kinds of questions. As religion beat reporters coming from diverse personal religious beliefs, they are natural targets for such questions.
"It is obvious," one of four panelists said, "the people we're talking to would like to find out who they're talking to."
Although a reporter's personal faith falls outside his or her professional identity, dodging such questions can make or break an interview.
The panelist said he will sometimes say which faith he belongs to. "It allows people some give and take with me which I'm trying to establish with them," he added. "I don't think this is necessarily a perfect solution because it can lead to other questions," such as where one goes to church and who the pastor is.
"Those questions are intrusive," he continued, "and dangerous. You could lose control of the interview and be typecast."
Another panelist said she tries to tell people briefly what her background is.
"You're spending one or two hours asking them personal questions about their lives and it's only fair to tell them a bit about myself," she said. However, while covering a religious event, she does not give an offering, take Communion, bow her head during prayers or sing hymns.
"Don't stand for anything that invades your privacy," she said.
Another panelist stonewalls such questions. "It is none of their business and it will color what they think of me," she said.
Several other religion writers contributed their thoughts, including a Catholic who said she does not belong to a local parish so she can be more impartial.
"It really hurts us in the profession to be openly religious as religion writers because that stigmatizes us as reporters," she said.
Other reporters felt no problem with covering their denominations, sensing that writers are always hardest on their own group.
"When asked what you are, the best response may be: Why do you want to know?" one nationally known writer volunteered. "What they really want to know is: Are you one of us or one of them?"
A former New York Times reporter said that when he was covering the beat, "There was a doctor covering medicine, lawyers on the legal beat, a pilot covering aviation and two clergymen covering religion. The product is more important than the process.
"If you can maintain a standing in a faith community without compromising your product, I don't have a problem with that."
Former Rocky Mountain News writer Terry Mattingly suggested raising the issue with one's editor to reach an agreement before such questions crop up. He crafted a "Miranda declaration" that says: "I am active in a congregation and I take my faith very seriously. That's why I want to do the best job that I can to take your religious views seriously and to report them accurately."
One west coast reporter said he is up front about his evangelical beliefs. "But I tell them they shouldn't expect me to be any less aggressive than any other news reporter," he said. "I'm going more on disclosure these days because people want to connect human to human."
From QV 2.4, December 1995
Before he answered the Los Angeles Times' questions, the Rev. Oral Roberts wanted to ask some questions of his own.
The mid-1980s were turbulent times for televangelists and veteran religion writer Russell Chandler was probing the state of his ministry and finances. So Roberts wanted some details about the journalist's life and beliefs and he wouldn't settle for a summary of his academic and professional credentials.
"Are you a Christian?", he asked, as the tape rolled. "Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? ...I'm not playing games."
Chandler said that he didn't divorce his faith from his journalism. But, as a professional, he said he preferred to be judged on the quality of his work. Did Roberts need an answer before the interview could proceed?
"You bet I do! This is private property. We have freedom of religion just like you have freedom of the press," he said. "I've been beaten, kicked around a lot and my product is up there for you to see. So I'm waiting for your answer. ...We're either Christian brothers or we're not."
There was a long pause. Eventually, Roberts accepted Chandler's assurance that they could discuss their Christian convictions in an appropriate setting.
Every religion writer I know has faced this question or some variation on it. Once, when I was covering a fiery Pentecostal service, the preacher pointed down at my pew and bellowed: "Brother! Are you with us?" Holding up my notepad, I said: "I'm taking notes!" This was true, although it's hard to take notes when people are speaking in unknown tongues.
I have been grilled by New Agers, United Methodist bishops, legions of Episcopalians, every manner of rabbi, assorted Calvinists and Baptists, both northern and southern. A public relations pro in Salt Lake City once assumed I was a Mormon because I have a strange beard and kept waving away the waitress with the coffee pot.
I propose a moratorium on asking journalists the church question. Instead, any religious leader who wants to size up a reporter should ask: How long have you covered religion news?
There isn't a really good answer to the church question. In fact, one of the worst answers a reporter can give is: "Yes, as a matter if fact I go to YOUR church. Now, could you please tell me why OUR church wants to modernize the creed?" At this point, the reporter usually receives a sermon on why he or she shouldn't betray THEIR church. Few people love traitors.
It may not help to say you attend another church. Some people will then assume you're an apostate or that you'll be prejudiced against their church - or both.
If you decline to answer, this also makes some people mad. This says, in effect, that the interviewee has to open up his or her soul, but interviewer does not. And it doesn't work to say that it doesn't matter which church you go to, or whether you believe anything at all, because you are a professional journalist and, thus, you'll be fair to everyone. This causes believers to roll their eyes, because the news media have a history of botching religion stories.
Plus, saying that it doesn't matter whether a reporter has any personal interest in religion at all comes very close to saying that centuries of doctrine and tradition don't matter. As a rule, apathy about eternal issues isn't a sign of intellectual interest in this subject -- the kind of interest that produces accurate reporting. Few editors hire sports reporters who don't care about sports.
So, how do I answer the big question?
For years I have used a response that goes like this: "Yes, I am an active churchman and I take my faith very seriously. Thus, I understand that you take your faith very seriously. That's why I want to do everything I can to report your words and viewpoints accurately. Now, can I get out my notebook?"
- Condensed from an October 1998 column by Terry Mattingly
www.tmatt.net
distributed by the Scripps Howard News Service.