* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Covering religion is every bit as challenging as covering defence, finance or science. Why? Because it pits a profession that lives by hard facts and figures, against deeply personal beliefs about truth that are difficult to articulate and often impossible to quantify.
Religions cannot be encapsulated in text or images, because they deal in invisibilities – belief, the soul, deities - and religious activities such as festivals and ceremonies are physical expressions of internal beliefs and motivations.
Journalists themselves may adhere to a particular belief, which can cloud their ability to report on other faiths fairly or accurately. Or they may have secular views and regard religion as a waste of time, making the job of interviewing faith communities a challenge.
It’s also a challenge finding out who to talk to. While Christian communities typically have clear organisational hierarchies with someone “at the top” to answer questions, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and traditional religions in the global South tend to be more disparately governed.
So when bullets start flying in the offices of a French magazine or a Tunisian beach, or when a church or mosque is bombed or burnt down, who do you call – and how do you ensure your story won’t make a tragic or dangerous situation worse through ignorance or biased reporting? And how do you stay safe as a reporter if your story contains information that is unpalatable or offensive to the faith community you are covering?
Over the past 10 years, the number of journalists who can answer these question has fallen, as religion reporter jobs have seen the same cutbacks as many other specialist posts. Hence the task of covering news where religion is integral to the story increasingly falls to generalist reporters who may not know where to begin.
Earlier this month, Thomson Reuters Foundation hosted the organisation’s first ever ‘Reporting Religion’ workshop. Nine journalists – from Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Kosovo, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria - came to London to join Reuters Religion Editor, Tom Heneghan and former BBC Religion Correspondent Corinne Podger for a one-week course.
The programme included seminars introducing the trainees to the principles of independence, integrity and freedom from bias that underpin all Reuters’ journalism, as well as specific sessions on identifying and interviewing faith leaders, and sourcing and verifying social media content.
The trainees also visited significant places of worship in London – New North London Synagogue, East London Muslim Centre, and Westminster Abbey. Many had never entered a place of worship different to the predominant faith in their home country.
“As a journalist reporting regularly on religion I was generally aware of the main Islam principles and beliefs, however, I had never experienced Islam before” trainee Maria Savkova said.
The course coincided with Ramadan, the holy month of fasting within Islam, and at East London Mosque the participants broke the fast with an evening meal known as ‘Iftar’, and had the opportunity to ask questions of senior Muslim leaders and hear what this often marginalised community thinks of biased journalism.
Contributing authors: Ion Muset, Sunday Oguntola, Maria Savkova, Sofia Karekla, Asyl Osmonalieva, Jyoti Shelar, Jeta Abazi Gashi, Sithakazelo Dlamini and Marium Mohammed.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
