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 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. 

Is religion news coverage on the decline?

Religion is in the news. No doubt about it. At the same time, religion reporters, sections, and features are often yesterday's news -- tossed to the wayside by major news outlets and undervalued for their contribution. 

Is that the full story? 

Award-winning religion journalist Bobby Ross Jr. of GetReligion took the time to interview me about my upcoming course on "Religion & the News" and the state of the beat. GetReligion is "an independent website that wrestles with issues of religion-beat coverage in the mainstream press" and the interview covers the course and its value, my background in religion newswriting, the state of the beat, and where I get my religion news.

Studying 'the God Beat': Religion & the News 101

It is impossible to think about religion without noticing the news. It is impossible to be a journalist without understanding something about religion. Religion is at the center of multiple headlines & news stories the world over. This course will explore both the production, and reception, of religion in the news investigating what it takes to be on “the God beat” and what kinds of conversations such a beat creates, questions, & critiques.

Such a class, such a conversation, is vitally important in this present moment. Exploring several news site home pages I was able to find religion headlines on every single one -- about conflict in Israel, about burned churches in the Midwest, nature spirituality in the Pacific, abstinence in Britain, Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria. How do we make sense of these stories? How do we critique the coverage or question the approach of the journalists? How could we play an active part in producing and analyzing such news? 

Building off my experiences as a freelance journalist, news analyst, and researcher engaged in the academic study of religion I am offering a course in partnership with the University of Florida's Religion department and Journalism School (one of the Top Ten in the U.S.) -- Religion & the News (REL 3938/JOU 4930).

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Weimer Hall at the University of Florida, Gainesville. 

This course will cover the importance of religion reporting in age of religious illiteracy & discuss news as a primary portal for knowledge about religion. It aims to give students an opportunity to give voice to why they report on religion, from a personal perspective and familiarize students with the multiple representations and expressions of religion, discussing how we can define religion in a pluralistic age. Students will also get the chance to know what resources, methods, and theories are available for religion newswriting and be given the opportunity to write and publish blogs, articles, and analysis pieces for public consumption. Basically, this is not a passive class with a theoretical end, but an active class with practical and real-time applications and assignments. 

The course will be offered Tuesdays 1:55-2:45pm and Thursdays 1:55-3:50pm and more information about registration and course details are available HERE (Course Listings) and HERE (Registration). Interested in auditing the course? Talk to me! 

The stories that matter to Muslims should matter to us all

From the news headlines over the past year you’d think that the news about Muslims mainly consists of ISIS, Charlie Hebdo, Qur’an controversies, the occasional Muslim holiday, and lately the bigoted opinions of some presidential candidates.

Stories in the media that imply that Islam is all about violence, Mohammad cartoons, or subjugating women and non-Christians to harsh impositions of Sharia law, not surprisingly find a big audience in the U.S.

But what are the stories that matter to Muslims?

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!