We all have different “hats” we wear during the day. Sometimes we even wear more than one hat at a time. But challenge as a journalist, is which hat or hats do you wear? Well, we are told to be objective and to not allow our opinion to get in the way. This means, leave your religion, political, and sensitive hat at home. But the hat we should always be wearing? Our moral hat with all of its values.
Personally, I love to compartmentalize my life, so I like the idea of leaving hats at home. I just feel like there is no way to wear every hat at once and it just makes everything more stressful. Because with each hat, comes a different audience. If I wear my Mormon hat, I then have the LDS church to make happy. If I wear my BYU hat, I better not say anything good about the Utes. And if I wear my Oregon hat, I better because talking about all things green.
But religion is the most touchy topic of all. I loved the quote given in class about how religion is the most important thing, but also the least understood. Every journalist is afraid to write about religion in depth because if anything is published and it’s not 100% correct, then there will be thousands of letters and emails letting them know. Even if an article is correct, if there is some way for it to be perceived incorrectly, then buyers will be lost and enemies made.
Religious people will do anything to protect their religion. The United States was founded on religious freedom, wars are fought every day because of religion, and people even disown family members if they leave a religion.
But the thing is, everyone would benefit from knowing more about religion.
http://www.religionwriters.com/tools-resources/reporting-on-religion-a-primer-on-journalisms-best-beat This is a website with lots of links and tips on how to cover a religion beat and how to write if you are or are not a religious person.
Also, this is a fabulous site http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm A world religion comparison chart for kids!!!!!! How cool is that. Sometimes I just want to know the basic differences between religions and this chart has it all.
2 comments:
Great post! I love how you compare our different personal views to hats. You make a great point that our moral hat with all of its values should never be taken off. It is so important to keep our morals always. I also agree that religion is the least understood in society. It is scary to write or speak about different religions because you worry you might get something wrong. But I won't fear anymore because that chart you found is great! :)
Lizzy!
Love the hat analogy. Perfect way to illustrate the many roles we take on in different settings, but our morals never change. Especially as LDS journalists, our morals and values should be especially solid in our stories. We should always seek truth and hold the public in our best interest.
In regard to religion, I think people have a hard time associating themselves with something they don't understand. It is our duty to differ! While I think reporters should feel a little apprehensive in religion reporting to protect the beliefs of others, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be assertive. There will always be skeptics.
Love you writing! Nice work! :)
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