The State of Journalism in Uganda

The responsibility change the current situation in Uganda rests on the journalists themselves. The government will likely never see it in their best interest to set the press free, but the journalists have the duty to serve the public. Therefore, the need for a stronger, concerted voice against abuse by government agencies must remain stronger than the opposition we face.

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Complex realities behind that '81 percent of evangelicals love Trump' media myth

(COMMENTARY) In the current news theory of everything, few numbers in American political life have received more attention than this one – 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016. Politicos have paid less attention to signs that many evangelicals cast those votes with reluctance, and some with a sense of dread.

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Dr. Michael Guillen speaks on “The End of Life as We Know It” and the significance of faith in today’s world

Author and scientist Michael Guillen warns that scientists are working to resurrect extinct species and robots have made leaps and bounds. He says Christians must take this opportunity to provide wisdom to a world so obsessed with scientific progress without considering the ramifications.

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Philip Jenkins on giant, global leaps of faith in 1918, 1968 and 2018?

(COMMENTARY) While it's common to believe that religion evolves slowly over time, in a linear manner, the evidence suggests that history lurches through periods of "extreme, rapid, revolutionary change, when everything is shaken and thrown up into the air," said historian Philip Jenkins. Ever 50 years or so, new patterns and cultural norms seem to appear that never could have been predicted.

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Will the 'God gap' persist on Nov. 6? What else should religion-news pros look for?

(COMMENTARY) On Election Day 2018, we can expect black Protestants, Latino Catholics and Jews will join the “nones” as solidly Democratic while Mormons plus evangelical Protestants go Republican. More interesting two big blocs of religious swing voters - Non-Hispanic Catholics and white “mainline” Protestants - each have a negative view of President Trump at 52 percent, roughly tracking his standing with the over-all public.

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The Media Project's 2018 Coaching & Leadership Fellows

TMP’s flagship Coaching & Leadership Fellowship program just wrapped up in St. Petersburg, Fla., where we hosted a week-long workshop Oct. 7-13 at the Poynter Institute. Fellows participated in a series of interactive sessions on leadership principles they can use in their newsrooms. strategic thinking, global fact-checking, social media, coaching writers, using feedback, resolving conflict, and improving newsroom collaboration.

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Nix 'Mormon' talk in news! How can media handle major faith’s unreasonable plea?

(COMMENTARY) The venerable Mormon Tabernacle Choir has announced that it is now named “The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.” Reason: President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has declared that “the importance of the name” that God “revealed for His Church,” means believers and outsiders must drop “Mormon” and use that full nine-word name.

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Way out of sight, out of mind? Follow the money in the McCarrick scandals

(COMMENTARY) Theodore McCarrick has become the iconic figure at the heart of the latest round of Catholic clergy sex scandals. Here in America, the key will be whether bishops find ways to hold each other accountable, especially with talk increasing of a federal investigation of cover-ups linked to sexual abuse.

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Christian Afghans Flee Taliban and Find Safety in India

The Afghan embassy estimates there are 30,000 Afghan refugees living in Delhi today. Many Afghans in Delhi are Hindu and Sikh whose families migrated from India before Afghanistan’s independence in 1919. Many of those fled to India for religious freedom and settled in a South Delhi colony that today has temples, mosques, gurudwaras and even an unmarked, underground church.

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Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court’s Catholic majority

The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t only the highest court in the land, its judges have the responsibility to rule on cases that have a lasting impact on American politics, culture and religion. Driving those changes going forward will be a Catholic majority of justices who have become increasingly conservative, shifting the balance of the court for years to come.  

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Women are the ones who will help fix the Catholic Church 

(COMMENTARY) The Catholic Church’s “bad guys” aren’t women, but men accused of molesting children and teens over the last few decades. Those who were victimized were children, teens and young people – all in large part males. The solution to the Catholic Church’s ills won’t come from the clergy – certainly not if Pope Francis and others protect the likes of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – but from the flock. And it will be women who will lead the way.   

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Vatican-China agreement: As misguided as Rome's attempt to work with Nazi Germany?

(OPINION) How will the recent Vatican-Beijing development — ostensibly designed to unite the much persecuted, Vatican-loyal, underground Chinese Catholic church with the government recognized, and controlled, official Chinese Catholic church — survive should Vatican officials decide to criticize one or another Chinese human rights violation? Or does China believe that this agreement is just another Chinese attempt to control religious expression?

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Trying to bring the rest of the 'Unbroken' story to the screen, altar call and all

(COMMENTARY) Historians know exactly what the Rev. Billy Graham said during the sermons that changed Louis Zamperini's life. And because of author Laura Hillenbrand's 75-plus interviews with the Olympian and World War II bombardier, millions of readers know what happened inside his heart during the altar call. This latest movie tells the rest of the “Unbroken” story that Hollywood neglected to tell before.

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Atlantic essay on Poland asks: Why do religious biases seem to accompany populist politics?

Newspaper, magazine and broadcast reports attempting to explain the moves toward nationalist-tinged political populism in a host of European nations, and certainly the United States as well, have become a journalistic staple, which makes sense given the subject’s importance.

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Moscow reporting on the Ukraine Church talks

(COMMENTARY) Nothing much has changed in Western reporting about Russia since 1939. A recent meeting between the Patriarchs Cyril of Moscow and Bartholomew of Constantinople over an autocephalous or independent orthodox church in Ukraine is yet another example of the fog that surrounds Russian reporting.

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Never Forget: A journalist looks back at the 9/11 attacks to educate future generations  

Clemente Lisi was a reporter for the New York Post on September 11, 2001. He is now a journalism professor teaching students who weren’t even born by that date. Lisi reflects back on covering 9/11 and the profound impact it made on him as a journalist and native New Yorker.

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Pictures of Zionism

Sabelo Mlangeni is an award-winning photographer featured in galleries from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts to San Francisco’s MOMA. He’s been awarded residencies from Germany to France. Featured once in The New Yorker, he was described as South Africa’s “Flâneur,” a term used to describe his ability to capture intimate moments wherever he travels. But while he is known around the world, his home is close to heart. His most recent gallery is Umlindelo Wamakhlowa (Night Vigil of the Believers) at Wits Art Museum (WAM), located at the University of Witswatersrand in Joburg. His series of photos in the exhibit document the Church of Zion and his own experience.

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The role of online journalism and the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal 

A whistleblower says the Vatican – and specifically Pope Francis –  was aware of immoral sexual abuse behavior years ago. When it was revealed that two Catholic journalists helped him to edit and distribute the letter making those claims, it shed a light on the increasingly polarized Catholic Church and the growth and influence of conservative news and opinion websites that oppose Pope Francis and what they believe is the pontiff’s assault on orthodoxy. 

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Australia's new Pentecostal prime minister

Australia has a new prime minister, which is certainly news. The new prime minister, Scott Morrison, is an outspoken, politically conservative Pentecostal Christian. This mixing of religion and politics may be old-hat at this point for Americans. But it's an entirely new experience for Australians.

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