CCCU News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of a lecture series based on Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion, Terry Mattingly, nationally syndicated columnist and director of the Washington Journalism Center traveled to the Ukraine, the Philippines and India in May and June.
Mattingly, who contributed a chapter to Blind Spot , was in Kiev, Ukraine May 29-31 and also traveled to Manila, Philippines; Bangalore and New Delphi, India in early June. The book was produced by the Media Project of the Oxford Centre for Religion & Public Life and published by Oxford University Press.
Speaking to journalists and journalism students of all religious backgrounds, Mattingly discuss trends in religion coverage in international media and the importance of knowing and reporting the religious context in stories. Media outlets, such as the Times of India, Filipino Inquirer and other papers, were on hand to cover the sessions.
“You always learn a lot when you meet journalists in these kinds of settings, but I was stunned by the complexity of the task that journalists face in India when covering religion,” said Mattingly. “In America, you mess up a story about religion and people get mad at you. In India, you can start a riot—with an inaccurate report or an accurate report. It's just that volatile a situation.”
In addition to his “On Religion” column (click here for link to the Kiev column), which is syndicated by the Scripps Howard News Service, he also runs GetReligion.org and helps facilitate InkTank, the student blog for the Washington Journalism Center.
The 12 semester- or summer-long student programs offered by the CCCU are categorized as either culture-shaping programs or culture-crossing programs. Culture-shaping programs are: American Studies Program (Washington, D.C.); Contemporary Music Center (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.); Los Angeles Film Studies Center (L.A., Calif.); and Washington Journalism Center (Washington, D.C.). Included in the culture-crossing programs are: Australia Studies Centre; China Studies Program; Latin American Studies Program; Middle East Studies Program; Programmes in Oxford; Russian Studies Program; and Uganda Studies Program. All programs undergo regular site visit evaluations by the Student Academic Programs Commission (SAPC).
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of 181 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. There are now 111 member campuses in North America and all are fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. In addition, 70 affiliate campuses from 24 countries are part of the CCCU. The Council’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.
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