Columbia Journalism Review: Stations Of The Cross

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I hope this is (a) the right forum and (b) not a dupe.

Stations Of The Cross

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How evangelical Christians are creating an alternative universe of faith-based news

By Mariah Blake

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In recent months, evangelical broadcasters have dedicated program after program to bemoaning “judicial tyranny,” and urging audiences to agitate for the “nuclear option” — changing Senate rules so Democrats can no longer filibuster and thereby block nominees they oppose. The judiciary was also front and center during opening week at the network’s new Washington bureau. A parade of senators — all of them Republican — made their way into the studio, to go on camera advocating the nuclear option. During his interview, broadcast as part of NewsWatch’s inaugural Washington, D.C., program, Trent Lott stood with studio lights glinting off the American flag pin on his lapel, and held up a scrap of paper with a list of senators’ names and how they intended to vote on the initiative. The tally seemed to be stacking up in his favor. Pat Robertson, who interviewed Lott, asked no tough questions and offered not even a passing nod to opposing viewpoints. Instead, Robertson scored Democrats for trying to “eliminate religious values from America” by blocking the appointment of conservative judges. All the while, the dizzying blend of God, news, and politics that he has crafted and honed was bouncing off satellites, winding through thousands of cable systems, rippling over the airwaves, and glowing on television screens across America.
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