Covering the religion beat
By Martha Guevara

   An old adage advises “never discuss politics or religion” unless you want a fight on your hands. So, when your job as a journalist calls for you to handle both topics, some sensitivity is in order.
   At the ACES seminar Thursday on the religion beat, John Rivera, religion writer for The Baltimore Sun, and Kenneth Briggs, former religion editor for The New York Times, discussed the challenges they have faced when dealing with similar issues.
   According to Rivera, the subjects of religion and politics are sometimes intertwined, especially during an election year.
   He says the religious tone of the current presidential campaign, especially with the selection of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who is Jewish, as a vice presidential candidate, shows how times have evolved. “It's changed from the days of (John F.) Kennedy, when religion was a taboo subject,” Rivera said, “all the way to (Jimmy) Carter … he said he was a Baptist and (everyone) said, ‘What's that?’ ”
 People who go to the polls are more conscious of where the candidates stand on religious issues, Rivera said. 

    As a result, “there are more analytical pieces done asking why is this happening and whether it's legit,” he added.
   Rivera, who has a master's degree in theology from the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C., said the most rewarding experience he's had covering the religion beat “is learning about other traditions from people you talk to.”
   “It's like going to school every day. I've never had to do so much research on a beat.”
   That research has been put to good use. Rivera has covered Pope John Paul II’s visit to Baltimore in 1995, his trip to Cuba in ’98 and the papal pilgrimage to Israel in  March.
   Briggs, who has a master’s degree in theology from Yale University and is currently writing  book about American Catholic Sisters for Random House, discussed how newspapers are keeping up with the changing religious trends.
   Rivera and Briggs also offered advice on how to “get away from sermon stories.”

====
Martha Guevara is a copy editor at Newsday. She can be reached at Chepinzon@aol.com.