Yesterday a newly released news story from the Presbyterian News Service, a part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), caught my attention and while the tone of the coverage concerned me, I’ve commented on this slant in coverage before and decided to let this one pass. Until… I read the entry Viola has at her blog, Naming His Grace, titled Reporting on Reporting and For the Bible tells me so.”
First, some background: Earlier this year First Run Features released the film “For the Bible tells me so” ( official film web site) that examines how the Bible and the church view and deal with homosexuality and homosexual behavior from the progressive perspective. As the Presbyterian News Service (PNS) article says, this film was shown at the Covenant Network of Presbyterians’ conference in Atlanta in November and is highlighted on the front page of their web site. In addition, it is mentioned positively on the Witherspoon Society web site. The PNS article is generally positive about the film and has positive and encouraging quotes from Pam Byers, the executive director of the Covenant Network.
Now turning to Viola’s comments, you would not know that she was talking about the same film. Viola comes from the evangelical perspective and is not a fan of the film, although she does say she has only seen the trailer and the promotional information.
While I have only looked at the film’s web site and have not seen the trailer, my problem and part of Viola’s problem is not with the film, but again with the PNS coverage. And rather than my restating my complaint, I will quote Viola:
Today the Presbyterian News Service had an article, Biblical examination, about the film. It is written by Toya Richards Hill. While it is true that this particular film has won quite a few awards at the Sundance film festival, so it is a news worthy film, it is also true that the Presbyterian News Service is, well, officially Presbyterian. So it seems to me in their news reporting they should be handling the subject of this film from a two-sided position.
That is, the Presbyterian News Service could write about how the Covenant Network likes this film and here is what all of those who made the film and agree with the film, including some theologians, say about it. (Which they did.) But on the other hand, there are those scholars and theologians and Christians in the pews who don’t agree with the film’s take on the subject and this is what they have to say about it. (Which
they did not do.) And hopefully as the film is shown across the country PNS will do that?
It is interesting to note that there is a film or video expressing an alternate conservative/evangelical viewpoint called “Speaking a Mystery.” ( official film web site) This video was produced by OneByOne and Presbyterians for Renewal and was released in April 2006 in advance of the 217th General Assembly. Now, that film did not go into theatrical release and does not seem to have won any awards, but it was produced by PC(USA) affiliated groups. Some browsing through the PNS archive, using the search function on the PC(USA) web site, and even doing a Google search on it I could find no mention of it on the PC(USA) web site.
Well, I’ll again say, that if the PC(USA) is trying to present themselves as an organization for all Presbyterian viewpoints, they need to be much more intentional about the balance of the news they cover and balance within the articles themselves.
On a related note, today the PNS announced a realignment of which of their reporters covers what news based on the new structure of the PC(USA) General Assembly Council. It just looks structural and not fundamental so I’m not sure it will have any impact on how news gets reported.