Mickey Mouse + Harry Potter + Joe Biden = fantastic ledes in world of religion news
Weekend Plug-in 🔌
Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-In” features analysis, insights and top headlines from the world of faith. Got feedback or ideas for this column? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.
(ANALYSIS) The best news stories start with a fantastic lede.
For those unfamiliar with journalistic lingo, the lede is “the opening sentence or paragraph of a news article, summarizing the most important aspects of the story.”
Every year, Poynter Institute writing guru Roy Peter Clark recognizes the Pulitzer Prize winner with the best lead (as he spells it). Yes, there’s a whole debate over which spelling is best.
Clark argues that even some of the stories that earn journalism’s most prestigious honor provide “evidence that we have lost the art of the great news lead.”
But this week, I came across two ledes in the world of religion that I really enjoyed.
I can’t resist sharing them.
The first comes via the Orlando Sentinel’s Chabeli Carrazana:
For the better part of two decades, Orlando’s holiest theme park has hung on from its perch on Interstate-4, a struggling David among Orlando’s Goliaths: Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter.
Now it seems it’s time to concede defeat. The news came earlier this year: The Crucifixion is canceled. So is the resurrection and all the other stage shows portraying stories of the Bible, which play out five days a week at Orlando’s Holy Land Experience, a part biblical museum, part ministry that has withstood 19 years of financial trouble.
The second was penned by Politico’s Ryan Lizza:
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Biden campaign has always had a healthy sense of impending doom running through it. Maybe it’s the Catholic sensibility of many of the senior staffers, but it’s been noticeable in conversations over the past year. “The bottom on this whole thing could fall out at any minute,” one said in December. In February, in the first three nominating contests, the staffer was proved correct.
But Wednesday was the start of Lent, and Joe Biden gave up losing.
If you spot a nice lede — particularly one with a faith angle — I’d love to see it. Email me at the address above or tweet me at @bobbyross.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Wash your hands before reading the rest of this: But seriously, folks, the coronavirus outbreak is sparking changes by many religious institutions. The Associated Press’ David Crary — with help from Religion News Service’s Aysha Khan — reports that the adjustments include “a decision by numerous Catholic dioceses to suspend the serving of wine during Communion.” AP notes, too, that the virus has halted Islamic pilgrimages to Mecca. The New York Times highlights “worship in the age of coronavirus.” Other coverage includes a Washington Post piece on the impact on the Jewish community in New York City and a Wall Street Journal story on an apology by the leader of the secretive church at the center of South Korea’s virus epidemic. and Among local faith-related stories are these by the The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Peter Smith, the Houston Chronicle’s Robert Downen and the Austin American Statesman’s Eileen Flynn and Philip Jankowski.
2. ‘I must believe that joy will come’: Religion writer Holly Meyer and her colleagues at The Tennessean are — just as you’d expect in one of the buckles of the Bible Belt — working overtime to cover all the faith angles related to Tennessee’s devastating tornadoes. Gentry Estes reported on a family of three — among the 24 dead — who embraced their Christian faith and each other. I’m covering the story for The Christian Chronicle and will be in hard-hit Cookeville this weekend.
3. Civil rights: The road to Bloody Sunday began 30 miles away: This is a highly compelling read by Gary Fields, the global religion news editor for The Associated Press. In the piece from Marion, Ala., Fields writes: “What happened in Marion is now a less-familiar episode in the civil rights movement, a footnote in the textbooks. But the blood spilled here would send hundreds of people from Marion and the surrounding county to Selma and the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where history was made.”
Etc.: Faith before basketball for Yeshiva University champions, Luis Andres Heneo, Associated Press … Supreme Court weighs abortion case; Schumer remarks draw rebuke from Roberts, Nina Totenberg, NPR … After BYU Honor Code change, LDS Church now says same-sex relationships are ‘not compatible’ with the faith’s rules, Courtney Tanner, Erin Alberty and Peggy Fletcher Stack, Salt Lake Tribune … 2012 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting survivor dies of wounds, Todd Richmond, AP … Buttigieg’s candidacy made being gay and openly Christian normal, LGBT activists say, Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post … Spiritual abuse definition debated by UK Christians, Ken Chitwood, Christianity Today … Prominent pastor Craig Groeschel placed under quarantine after coronavirus exposure, Carla Hinton, The Oklahoman … Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, to close spiritual retreat centers, Danae King, Columbus Dispatch … Does religion influence your choice of pet?, Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune.
Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines
Bob Smietana, editor-in-chief of Religion News Service, wrote a “poignant tribute to to the late Roy Larson,” as pointed out by the Religion News Association.
Smietana described Larson, who died last week at age 90, as a “legendary religion journalist and teacher.”
GetReligion’s Terry Mattingly shared his own reflections, recounting how Larson “escaped stereotypes and became a pioneer.”
Charging Station: In Case You Missed It
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from Religion Unplugged.
• Did faith change former General Electric CEO Jack Welch? (by Paul Glader)
• A pilgrimage to eternity: a compelling tour through Christianity’s complex history – on foot (by Matthew Hendley)
• Ben Affleck's new film introduces religion to the conversation on addiction (by Liza Vandenboom)
• ‘The Eating Church’ has fed New York's hungry for 24 Years; now its pantry is dwindling (by Georgia Gee)
• How a cold unleashed click-bait headlines about the pope having coronavirus (by Clemente Lisi)
• A history of impunity in Nigeria has led to increased Christian persecution (by Ewelina U. Ochab)
• Documentary chronicles work of the soldier and pastor who leads the Free Burma Rangers (by Micah Danney)
• Orson Bean found faith later in life. That received short thrift in coverage of his death (by Terry Mattingly)
• India sees worst violence in decades as mob attacks Muslim protesters (by Avinash Giri)
The Final Plug
I try not to overdo mentions of Religion Unplugged’s own content in this column.
But come on, you’re missing out if you’re not checking out the in-depth religion news coverage at this still-new online magazine.
I saved one of the week’s best stories for last so that I could note (brag?) that Kimberly Winston wrote it. Winston (who, like me, is addicted to Diet Coke) is a former Religion News Service national correspondent who has written for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and more. She earned the Religion News Association’s 2018 award for best religion reporting at large news outlets.
Winston’s piece for Religion Unplugged explores how faith groups are converting property into free and low-income housing.
You really must take the time to read it.
Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for Religion Unplugged and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.