The Media Project North America

01/03/2026

Join us for two exclusive screenings in New York of "Heading Home: A 21st Century Pilgrimage" on Jan. 6 and 7.

You can RSVP below:

Jan. 6 hosted by First Things: https://luma.com/lv7fm43o

Jan. 7 at Central Presbyterian Church: https://centralchurchnyc.tpsdb.com/OnlineReg/1360

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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