David Briggs Honored with 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award

One of my favorite “jobs” while serving on the board of the Religion News Association (RNA, a professional association for people who report on religion in the news media, has been overseeing the William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award.

In preparation for giving out the prize, I get the chance to interview the recipient about their life and work. These conversations go beyond the “5ws,” offering me the opportunity to listen and learn from reporters who have done some of the best, longstanding reporting on religion over the last several decades.

This year, like each before, it was an honor to interview and profile David Briggs, veteran religion reporter best known for his years with The Associated Press in the 1990s.  

Briggs covered three popes, seven presidents and almost too many church conventions to count. But far and away, he said, the most impactful interviews he ever conducted were with survivors and victims of abuse by religious organizations and clergy. “Those interviews became some of the defining moments of my life,” Briggs said. “Over and over again, they invited me into their homes, into their lives, to share their stories.” 

In Ohio, where Briggs covered religion for The Cleveland Plain Dealer, he wrote story after story about Mainline Protestant leaders and evangelicals, Jewish organizations and clergy of all kinds who broke the sacred trust given to them by abusing the vulnerable. Along the way, he angered plenty of people across the religious spectrum, he said. But it didn’t matter much to Briggs. He was there for those who shared their stories.  

“I kept up with a great number of those people — over 90 of these individuals — over the years,” he said, “and those are still the stories that stick with me.”  

For his contributions to the beat, long-term commitment to RNA and service to its members, Briggs will be honored with the 2025 William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award at a banquet on April 5 at the Religion News Association’s Annual Conference, in Arlington, Virginia. 

RNA's 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award

I never set out to be a writer. That was never the intention. My original goal was simple, if audacious: I wanted to make the world a little bit smarter when it comes to the topic of religion. 

I wanted to combat what Stephen Prothero famously coined, "religious illiteracy." I still do. 

That is why I started writing with Houston Chronicle in 2010, that is why I joined the Religion News Association (RNA) in 2011, and that is why I continue to be a part of that fantastic organization. RNA is the premier journalism association for people who write about religion in the news media. We offer training and tools to help journalists cover religion with balance, accuracy and insight.

Because of this mission, RNA does a lot to combat "religious illiteracy" and to build capacity for "religious literacy" through media production and publication. Its members do radio, broadcast television, and write for everything from local papers to metropolitan magazines. They do the hard yards of reporting on religion in a world that seldom seems to understand it. And they do it with class and verve. 

I am always impressed by the caliber of my colleagues in the RNA and no more so when I get to be a part of the process of choosing our William A. Reed Lifetime Achivement Award recipient each year. This year is no exception. At the 69th Annual RNA Conference in Columbus, Ohio (September 13-15, 2018) we will honor Ann Rodgers for her many years of dedication on the "God beat" and her tireless service to the RNA. 

Ann Rodgers, recipient of the 2018 RNA Lifetime Achievement Award. (PHOTO: RNA)

In addition to serving as president of the RNA during a time of significant transition and growth, Rodgers faithfully served on the religion beat in New Hampshire, Florida, and finally in Pittsburgh, Pa., for more than three decades. Her career covered papal transitions, evangelical scandal, and an increasing diversity of faith expressions that caught her attention. 

To read the full profile of Ann and hear from those who worked with her click the link below. 

Also, as you feel inspired by Ann's work I highly encourage you to join me in Columbus, OH for the RNA Conference. If you care about religious literacy and accuracy and fairness in religion reporting then this is the place for you to be. LEARN MORE HERE. 

RNA's Lifetime Achievement Award

Several years ago I got the chance to attend the Religion News Association's (RNA) conference in North Carolina. At the time I was blogging for the Houston Chronicle's "Houston Belief" blog. Little did I know that attending that conference would propel me into writing for publications like The Washington Post, Newsweek, and Huffington Post. 

I can't thank the RNA and its leadership enough for the opportunities this network of religion beat reporters gave me. That's why I am honored to serve on the RNA Board as Treasurer and especially humbled to be the point-person for the selection of our William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award. 

The William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2001 and is presented to individuals who demonstrate exceptional long-term commitment and service to the Religion News Association and its members, and to the field of religion newswriting. 

This year we selected Cecile S. Holmes -- formerly of The Houston Chronicle and current professor of Journalism at the University of South Carolina -- for the award. As a past RNA President and long-term religion reporter I enjoyed interviewing her and writing a profile on her contribution to the beat and her reception of the award. I invite you to read more about her life and experience below, if only to get a small glimpse into the world of religion newswriting...

“Thirty years ago Cecile Holmes started working on a beat that some find downright strange.

Starting as the religion and food writer at the Greensboro News and Record in Greensboro, N.C., Holmes was quickly captivated by the beat.

“I learned some odd things,” on the beat Holmes said. Like, “how to write quasi-interesting stories about the peripatetic John Paul II when I had had no sleep and way too much caffeine.”

On a more serious note, she also found herself sticking up for stories her editors wanted to shut down or keeping her sense of humor when she interviewed the holier-than-thou. Through it all Holmes said, “I still think religion is the best reporting beat.””

Religion reporting & cyber surveillance

In September 2014 I wrote an op-ed for Sojourners about why Westerners join ISIS. The piece focused on sociological factors behind some Westerners’ choice to devote themselves to such a violent group. Needless to say, the piece attracted attention.

Most notably, an ISIS supporter contacted me on Twitter to let me know what I got wrong. The exchange with @DarAlHaq, who had an ISIS flag as his cover photo and regularly posted photos and stories from the front in Syria and Iraq, was removed within minutes of it occurring. Fortunately, I took screenshots of our conversation. Further, within days, I had conversations with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and faced extra scrutiny while traveling in the Middle East in summer 2015.

The American Society of News Editors has paid close attention to, and been part of the conversations concerning, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). According to the ASNE, the bill would broaden the amount of digital information held by the government, reduce privacy protections allowing law enforcement to obtain information they deem “cyber threat indicators,” and protect from disclosure anything relating to cyber threat indicators. The definition of what these “cyber threat indicators” might be include just about anything relating to cybersecurity whether or not disclosure of that information actually constitutes a cybersecurity threat. 

As part of my research on global Islam and in-line with my news reporting, analysis and commentary as an active member of the religion beat, I regularly engage with members of so-called “Islamic extremist” groups, download material such as ISIS’s Dabiq magazine, and interact with “Islamophobia” organizations and communities. I am sure that some of you, my fellow religion newswriters, are involved with similar activities.

While I understand the necessity of paying due attention to the online activities of potential terrorists — both foreign and domestic — in a digital age where violent extremists are able to use digital media to their nefarious advantage I am increasingly wary of efforts by governments to have their noses so firmly pressed into our digital business. Whether we are academics or journalists we must be wary of legislation such as the CISA bill that could unilaterally curtail our privacy, fair use capabilities and journalistic freedom and integrity.

Already, the government is active online and watching for keywords and triggers that indicate the poorly explained “cyber threat indicators.” My story intimates as much. 

With that in mind, I am aware of the risk I run in engaging in such research online. I think we all need to be properly attuned to the intricacies of homeland security measures and the danger they pose on our beat, especially as it is related to research and reporting on religious extremist groups. At the same time, let us thank our stars that, thus far, we don’t have to register with the government if we want to download Dabiq (as is the case in the United Kingdom, for example) or fear further vicissitudes of government surveillance.

As members of the RNA I believe we should stand behind the ASNE and its vigilant watch over the proceedings in Congress concerning CISA and the potential threat it poses to our journalistic and academic endeavors. I adjure you to follow along as well and be part of the ever-growing group of editors, journalists and others who are voicing concern.

*This piece originally appeared as part of the Religion Newswriters Association E-Extra Newsletter & is reprinted here by the author. 

The next generation of religion journalists

In prepping this piece I took a quick look at CNN's, BBC's, and The Africa Reports' front pages. Here are the religious headlines that caught my eye:

• Did Pope perform miracle?
• 60 seconds in an "atheist church"
• Multiple news stories on al-Dawla al-Islamiyya (ISIS)
• War against Boko Haram nears its end
• Reports of rising anti-semitism in U.S., on college campuses

As part of my wider passion for religious literacy and dedication to helping religion journalists deliver religion news with relevance, fairness, and depth I was recently appointed as one of the newest Board Members serving the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA). 

The RNA is the world's only journalism association for people who write about religion in the news media. The RNA offers training and tools to help journalists cover religion with balance, accuracy and insight including a smashing annual conference (Philadelphia, PA - August 27-30, 2015) aimed at informing headlines and networking newswriters; the Reporting on Religion Primer; and Religion Link with fresh, free, story ideas and expertise. 

It is exciting times for RNA and the field of religion newswriting. While challenges are plenty with the general decline of print newspapers, there are also new opportunities to be found online and in new venues passionately dedicated to specializing on religion, not just carrying it as a sideshow. We are also finding that the "god beat" is now the regular romp of political columnists, economics experts, and other journalists. This means that the number of interdisciplinary "religion newswriters" is increasing, often finding themselves wearing multiple media hats and transcending print and digital boundaries. 

With all this said, sometimes journalists struggle to understand religion, know their resources for reporting on it, fail to apperceive its real-world effects, or appreciate the insiders' point-of-view. As Diane Winston -- the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at USC Annenberg -- recently said, "The next generation of reporters should understand the importance of religion in the daily lives of Americans and learn how ordinary people look for and find meaning, identity, and purpose." I couldn't agree more. 

RNA is here to help and I'm humbled, honored, and excited to contribute as a board member in the years to come!