The Media Hates Mormons, Wait What? (link)
Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 4:42 pm
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8655 ... rated.html
One of the most common questions I have heard over the years about reporters goes something like this: Why is it that journalists identify people as Latter-day Saints when they say something criminal or embarrassing.
I answer two ways: First, such identification, when it happens, can be seen as a compliment. When a Catholic priest or a football coach or a police officer or a school principal commits a crime or does something stupid, it is more newsworthy than when a young day-laborer living down the street does the same thing. Some people have more expected of them given their position.
To the extent that Latter-day Saints are identified, such identifications say more is expected of us.
But the other answer is that journalists, especially professional American ones, actually often don't identify Latter-day Saints when they might have reason to do so.
One of the most common questions I have heard over the years about reporters goes something like this: Why is it that journalists identify people as Latter-day Saints when they say something criminal or embarrassing.
I answer two ways: First, such identification, when it happens, can be seen as a compliment. When a Catholic priest or a football coach or a police officer or a school principal commits a crime or does something stupid, it is more newsworthy than when a young day-laborer living down the street does the same thing. Some people have more expected of them given their position.
To the extent that Latter-day Saints are identified, such identifications say more is expected of us.
But the other answer is that journalists, especially professional American ones, actually often don't identify Latter-day Saints when they might have reason to do so.