When journalism meets religion
In a television studio, two news commentators ask sharp questions about Islam of an author of books on religion, while along the bottom of the screen a banner reads “Does Islam Promote Violence?” The interview is painful to watch, said Diane Moore, senior lecturer on religious studies and senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Word Religions at Harvard Divinity School. For nine minutes, the commentators oversimplify and generalize about Islam as a religion that promotes violence, and paint all Muslims with a single, red-tinged brush. It’s the kind of naive journalism that Moore would like to change. Through the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative, she hopes to enhance understanding of religions to undercut bigotry and prejudice. To that end, a symposium on religious literacy in journalism will be held this Thursday and Friday. In advance of that, the Gazette talked with Moore about how higher education can work with journalists and other...