The Media Project North America

The Media Project North America The Media Project works to challenge and prepare journalists to cover the role of religion in public life around the world.

Could the flourishing history of journalism provide clues for enabling it to flourish in future? Why is society’s watch...
07/25/2025

Could the flourishing history of journalism provide clues for enabling it to flourish in future? Why is society’s watchdog, the press, with its long and often honorable pedigree, going feral? Failing to bark at misrepresentation and fraud, while snarling at truth?

Why does journalism have the privileged position it does? As commercialization collides with the greatest communication revolution since Gutenberg, why are both revenues and media ethics in meltdown?

(EXCERPT) Could the flourishing history of journalism provide clues for enabling it to flourish in future? Why is society’s watchdog, the press, with its long and often honorable pedigree, going feral? Failing to bark at misrepresentation and fraud, while snarling at truth? Why does journalism hav...

The number of countries who impose heavy government restrictions on religious freedom peaked in 2022, according to a new...
12/18/2024

The number of countries who impose heavy government restrictions on religious freedom peaked in 2022, according to a new study released on Wednesday.

While the global median score on the Government Restrictions Index (based on several factors) held steady in 2022 at 3.0 out of 10, the number of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of government restrictions on religion rose to 59, which accounts for 30% of the 198 countries and territories Pew Research Center studied.

That’s up from 55 countries in 2021 and marks the highest number since the Pew study began in 2007.

While the global median score on the Government Restrictions Index (based on several factors) held steady in 2022 at 3.0 out of 10, the number of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of government religious restrictions rose to 59, which accounts for 30% of the 198 countries and terri...

The hours after an apparent assassination attempt are a tricky time for social media humor.Some readers didn’t get the j...
09/20/2024

The hours after an apparent assassination attempt are a tricky time for social media humor.

Some readers didn’t get the joke when a progressive evangelical offered a hot take on the man with an AK-47 hiding in the bushes beside Donald Trump’s golf course.

“This could either be somebody waiting to try to kill the former president or somebody legitimately using his AK as a putter,” noted the Rev. Ben Marsh of First Alliance Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on X.

Then he added: “Folks, we're talking about Florida here.”

As critics circulated the quip, Marsh reposted strong rejections of political violence, including this appeal: “Please protect Trump and ban these guns!!!”

The furor was timely, since Marsh was one of the first to sign “Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction,” a new statement urging evangelicals to reject verbal violence in American life.

(ANALYSIS) In the bitterly divided evangelical world, any discussion of these issues — such as a confession signed by A-list evangelical Trump critics, as well as some doctrinal progressives — will automatically be framed by the rhetoric of the former president and his boldest supporters. Decade...

On a sunny day, Lucio Jimenez Ocampo accompanies us to his coffee plantations. Coffee here is hidden under the shade of ...
09/05/2024

On a sunny day, Lucio Jimenez Ocampo accompanies us to his coffee plantations. Coffee here is hidden under the shade of trees that support its growth. Similar to many other farmers from the Sierra Mixe region in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, in 2015, he lost nearly all his coffee plants to coffee rust — a plague that thrives in hot and humid weather.

Today, his coffee plants are tall, healthy and abundant enough to support his entire family. Apart from the hard work Jimenez Ocampo does on the plantations, his family also performs rituals to help coffee grow.

“My parents do the rituals, and this way they secure good harvest,” said 40-year-old coffee producer. “We kill a turkey, bring tepache and mezcal to the plantation and eat there with the workers. We also perform the ritual after the harvest to give thanks and ask for permission to carry out all the following activities in the field without any danger."

The Mixe language continues to thrive. The Mixe people consider themselves never conquered, and turkey — an animal native to the Americas before colonization — is served at all significant events. Asking Mother Earth for permission and for the well-being of the plants does not only accompany cof...

News audiences have been consumed by the onrush of the Donald Trump assassination attempt, Joe Biden’s extraordinary fal...
07/30/2024

News audiences have been consumed by the onrush of the Donald Trump assassination attempt, Joe Biden’s extraordinary fall and Kamala Harris’s rise. But Catholics who follow religious events got other eye-popping news July 1 from CruxNow.com, an excellent and influential journalistic outlet on church events.

(ANALYSIS) Why rake muck? For one thing, it’s biblical. Recall Scripture’s narratives about the venerated King David’s adultery and homicide or St. Peter’s multiple denials of Jesus Christ. It encourages healthy reflection on the forgiveness of sins, the ways power is misused, the dangers of...

On the night of June 18, 1983, 10 women, from a 57-year-old mother to a 17-year-old student, were held in Adel Abad Pris...
07/19/2024

On the night of June 18, 1983, 10 women, from a 57-year-old mother to a 17-year-old student, were held in Adel Abad Prison they were executed in Chowgan Square in Shiraz, Iran, on charges that they belonged to the Baha’i faith.

Even though the Ukrainian Orthodox Church tries to stay independent of Russian officials, agents have dressed in priestly robes to get information.

While Muslim athletes from other countries can wear hijabs during the upcoming Paris Olympics, athletes from France are banned from donning the head coverings.

These were just a few of the stark examples of religious intolerance that were discussed at the fourth annual Religious Liberty Summit at the University of Notre Dame from July 9-11.

The theme of the conference, which took place at the school’s campus in South Bend, Indiana, was “Depolarizing Religious Liberty,” which still depends too much on one's race, faith or nationality. The highlight of the summit was an awards program and gala where the Religious Liberty Clinic was...

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief units have deployed in and around Houston up into Texarkana in response to Hurricane Be...
07/11/2024

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief units have deployed in and around Houston up into Texarkana in response to Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall early Monday morning, July 8. Units with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Texans on Mission, Arkansas and Alabama are providing meals, showers and chainsaw work to survivors.

As of Wednesday morning, about 1.7 million people in Texas were still without power according to Reuters. The death toll in Texas climbed to at least 11.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief units have deployed in and around Houston up into Texarkana in response to Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall early Monday morning, July 8. Units with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC), Texans on Mission, Arkansas and Alabama are providing meals, sho

Imagine a world where AI is omnipresent. It occupies your home, your car, your workplace, your pocket. Even your mind. E...
07/06/2024

Imagine a world where AI is omnipresent. It occupies your home, your car, your workplace, your pocket. Even your mind. Every aspect of your daily routine is seamlessly integrated with this sophisticated technology.

It anticipates your needs, completes your thoughts, deciphers your emotions, plays your favorite songs, drafts your emails and even suggests your next meal. It serves as your personal assistant, confidant, entertainment hub and your lover. Life becomes smooth, convenient and tailored to your every whim.

But something crucial is missing. A sense of unease begins to take root. Interactions feel hollow, conversations lack depth and relationships become superficial and transactional. The more we rely on AI, the more we find ourselves yearning for something it cannot provide: authenticity, meaning and opportunities to connect on a fundamentally human level.

(ANALYSIS) The more we rely on AI, the more we find ourselves yearning for something it cannot provide: authenticity, meaning and opportunities to connect on a fundamentally human level. This is where the church reenters the scene, not as a relic of the past, but as a symbol of the present, a sanctu

Millions continue to suffer religious persecution globally, with wars and civil conflicts exacerbating already existing ...
06/28/2024

Millions continue to suffer religious persecution globally, with wars and civil conflicts exacerbating already existing ills in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the U.S. State Department documented in its 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom.

The report on 199 countries and territories attempts to present a nonbiased overview of persecution by governments, extremists and members of society, relying on information from government officials, religious groups, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, human rights monitors, academia, media and others.

Millions continue to suffer religious persecution globally, with wars and civil conflicts exacerbating already existing ills in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the U.S. State Department documented in its 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom. The report attempts to present an over

It’s rare to hear eight seconds of dead silence during an NBA Finals press conference. Boston Celtics head coach Joe Maz...
06/20/2024

It’s rare to hear eight seconds of dead silence during an NBA Finals press conference.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked if, because of the “plight” of Black head coaches, it was significant that both teams in the Finals were led by Black men for the first time since 1975. Was this a source of pride for him?

Mazzulla's answer was blunt: “I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches?”

The son of an Italian father and a Black mother, Mazzulla is an outspoken Catholic whose pregame routine includes pacing through an empty arena, praying with a rosary made with wood from the court of the original Boston Garden.

While his press conference response drew many cheers in social media, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was not amused.

(ANALYSIS) The son of an Italian father and a Black mother, Mazzulla is an outspoken Catholic whose pregame routine includes pacing through an empty arena, praying with a rosary made with wood from the court of the original Boston Garden. While his faith has drawn many cheers across social media, it

Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won a landslide victory on Sunday to become Mexi...
06/04/2024

Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won a landslide victory on Sunday to become Mexico's first female Jewish president.

Sheinbaum, won the presidency with 58.3 percent of the vote, according to the latest results, to defeat opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez.

“For the first time in the 200 years of the republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum told supporters to chants of “president, president.”

Sheinbaum is also a Jew in a country that is 78 percent Catholic, making it the biggest in the Western Hemisphere. Mexico is also home to 40,000 Jews. The majority of them live in the capital Mexico City. While her faith remained a marginal aspect of the race — instead dominated by the country’s high crime rates and immigration — it nonetheless came up in good and bad ways.

Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won a landslide victory on Sunday to become Mexico's first female president. Sheinbaum, won the presidency with nearly 60 percent of the vote, defeating opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez. She is also Jewish in a country that i

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Catholic clergy — along with pastors in many other traditions — struggled with secula...
05/30/2024

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Catholic clergy — along with pastors in many other traditions — struggled with secular authorities or even their own leaders while trying to provide sacred rites at the heart of their faith.

Churches were locked. Some priests turned to open-air confessions, even drive-thru lanes. In some cities, priests in hazmat suits were allowed to offer last rites, usually without family members present. Some officials, secular and sacred, were more flexible than others.

A network of Catholic activists wrote an urgent plea: “Bishops, we, your faithful flock, implore you to do everything you can to make the sacraments more available. ... Something is terribly wrong with a culture that allows abortion clinics and liquor stores to remain open but shuts down places of worship.”

This bitter divide resurfaced during the May 11 Benedictine College commencement speech by Harrison Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion from the nearby Kansas City Chiefs. While remarks about women and family life dominated headlines, most of the placekicker's 20-minute address focused on divisions inside Catholicism.

(ANALYSIS) This bitter divide resurfaced during the May 11 Benedictine College commencement speech by Harrison Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion from the nearby Kansas City Chiefs. While remarks about women and family life dominated headlines, most of the placekicker's 20-minute address focus

Address

New York, NY

Telephone

+12126590742

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Media Project North America posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Media Project North America:

Shortcuts

Share

Category