As I’ve mentioned here before, and in the column about media bias that I wrote recently for Bulldog Reporter, I’m sick to death of journalists proclaiming they’re “fair and impartial,” and that there’s absolutely no media bias whatsoever.
So I wasn’t surprised to see the comment from Daryn Kagan, the former CNN anchor who left the cable network this fall, after CNN wouldn’t renew her contract. She has since created DarynKagan.com, an inspirational website filled with good news stories.
In an interview yesterday with the Los Angeles Times, she said:
“In a regular newsroom, you do not do a story that mentions God, unless it’s something horrendous, like a priest molesting a little boy.”
Based on that quote, and another comment in the same article—that she has become a more spiritual person the last few years—I was expecting to see a category at her website for spiritual stories or something along the lines of “is it odd or is it God?” But I didn’t.
Too bad. Inviting people to share their stories about God and spirituality would dovetail nicely with the mission of her website. It would also fill a huge void created by the same dying news media that wears its political correctness on its sleeve.
Think I’m wrong? Just try to find stories about God and spirituality in sections other than the church pages of newspapers.
Asked by the Times if the media are missing an opportunity to tell these stories, Daryn said:
“It’s not for me to say. I think there’s a lot of news corporations making a lot of money, and they’re doing just fine.”
Many news corporations, truth be told, aren’t dong just fine. Viewership for the major networks is down. Circulation at top-tier newspapers has been so bad that many of them have resorted to padding the circulation numbers. As for magazines, many are folding just months after leaving the launching pad.
God, religion and spirituality play an important role in the lives of millions of people, many of whom are consumers of news. Which makes it all the more puzzling why God isn’t welcome in the newsroom.
God belongs in the religion section.
It is interesting to observe in old movies how frequently faith and God are simply included as a part of everyday life…but nowadays some people consider even the mention of God’s name a major intrusion in their lives. I don’t particularly care for blueberries, but if someone mentioned in an article how much they enjoyed blueberry pancakes, I would not choose to be offended. Perhaps a recipe for blueberry muffins would be more logically located in the food section, but since eating is such an integral part of our lives, the mere mention of it hardly deserves to be relegated to a specific area, subject to intense criticism for violation of some unwritten rule.
Invited or not… here we come!
My new book, hitting in January, is called “Act as if…” and it deals with Truth. I am a Christian Professional Organizer who organizes schedules, people, offices, kitchens and even thoughts and ideas by the principles of the bible. Because you can’t fight it, sowing and reaping is how the world works, that’s how God made it, like it or not. You sow NOW and reap LATER (Gen 8:22) Only the media is trying to change it so that we start to think the other way around. Trying to tell us “whatever feels good right now” and I believe that is the attitude that has made it an embarrassment for my kids to sit in front of the television even in the afternoon. Sex doesn’t sell everything, why are we (when most people in America claim to be Christian) letting companies get away with 1/2 dressed women trying to sell a “sexy car”. It is NOT all about “right now” and “instant gratification”, and it is getting our country into a lot of trouble. What you do now, affects you LATER, I will get this message across, it is a God Given mission with my book, “Act as if…” We need to STOP and do things more on purpose than “in the moment” – I don’t think we don’t care, I think that we have been too busy to notice. TIME TO STOP and look what is happening to our country, our kids? Moral decay for sure, and it comes complete w/extremely high numbers of sexual preditors!
Who, or what is, God? It’a been my experience that NO-ONE knows, (really). Isn’t the concept of “God” in the sense of prehistoric, superticious, “religious” imagination/belief, ALL and in ALL? That’s what I’ve been taught. Do I really believe everything I’v been taught? NO! My life’s experience tells me otherwise. I do NOT believe in the COMMON CONECPT OF GOD. I do NOT believe there is “a” god ruling over and judging us. I do not believe (based on eperience) that ALL (begging to the universe) prayers are answered.
LIFE IS! LIVE! ENJOY! BE ALL YOU CAN BE. DARE TO LIVE YOUR DREAMS!
I do believe that on our death bed, we will far more regret what we DID NOT DARE than what we did.
Love,
Charles
I am so very tired of all the bad news. I am so very tired of belief in God causing one to be considered a defacto superstitious, Republican conservative hand waving bigot who is full of hate for anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe. I am a Christian, Democratic party member, environmentalist, organic gardener, anti-abortion but pro-choice anti-war wife of a pacifist husband and mother of a son who joined the Navy. (Don’t try to “peg” me!)I have wished for a long time that somebody in the media would offer stories of good news and good people doing good things(there’s a LOT of it out there), hope, and yes, even mention God- who defined God’s self in the holy scriptures as… LOVE. How in the name of heaven have we come to loathe a word who’s synonym is “Love”????
Thank you for stating the obvious. Journalism these days is not based on unbiased “just the facts, ma’am” There is definitely an agenda held by the publisher, producer and reporter. I’ve stopped watching the news to any great degree because it’s not nessessarily the truth. Do I want to be informed? YES but cleverly cut sound bites along with biased commentary is not my idea of “information” but rather propaganda. Hey, News Media – catch a clue. We just want the facts so we can make up our own minds. We’re not that stupid! Thank you Joan.
I tried adding some of these to mine and it wasnt the greatest. I will try again!
AMEN! We are starting a new Internet TV station called “HUPPAH Television” (Huppah is old Jewish term for God’s covering and protection) and one of the programs will be doing just what you are speaking of! So please invite your readers to submit their “God encounters” (will be a segment on The TRUE View)
Thanks so much Joan!