Nov 21, 2008 | 2:15 PM
Category:
Faith
During the waning days of the Presidential campaign an Associated Press story got wide play in newspapers around the country - often headlined something like "Evangelicals in the News - Not in the Newsroom." It has sparked some interesting comment since, from Rod Dreher in the National Review and, of all places, the New York Times. The conclusion, what most everyone agrees on, is that Evangelical Christians, in particular, and people of faith, in general, are woefully under-represented in American newsrooms.
This, I'm sure, comes as a shock to no one.
But, let me quote some statistics:
In 2007 The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported that 8% of journalists surveyed at national media outlets said they attended church or synagogue weekly. Nearly a third (29%) never attend such services. 39% report they go a few times a year.
Pew polling of the general public found 39% of Americans say they attend religious services weekly. Other polls find that about 2/3rds of Americans say they attend, at least, occasionally.
I think the numbers are probably a little less skewed at local media outlets and, I'm guessing, much better at Fox 4 News. Just a rough count of the committed, church-going Christians that I'm aware of in the newsroom is a whole lot higher than 8%.
But, at the network level, at places like the New York Times and the Washington Post, such people are nearly non-existent. Don't take my word for it - here's what Nicolas Kristof, a columnist at the New York Times writes about Evangelicals:
"nearly all of us in the news business are completely out of touch with a group that includes 46 percent of Americans."
Kristof is a talented journalist. And, a remarkably honest one. He goes on to write:
"liberal critiques sometimes seem not just filled with outrage at Evangelical-backed policies, which is fair, but also to have a sneering tone about conservative Christianity itself. Such mockery of religious faith is inexcusable."
Kristof's mea culpa column has others in the business writing and talking about increasing the diversity -- not just of Evangelicals but of journalists of other Faiths. To be effective, we have to represent and understand our audience. Newsrooms should reflect the diversity of those they report to.
I don't intend for this blog to spark the sort of knee-jerk reaction that I'm sure it will with a lot of you. Angry broadsides at the "Godless Media" aren't entirely accurate and don't do anybody any good. Part of the problem is that the only contact many journalists have with Evangelical Christians is from hate-filled emails and phone calls. That is not the "fruit of the Spirit."
What I would encourage, instead, is that you let your newspaper and television outlets know that you appreciate when we do cover religious issues. I've fought for and succeeded in getting several stories on the air in recent years -- a four-part series on short-term missions, stories about Dallas Theological Seminary offering classes on the internet in China, for example. When you see that kind of thing call and email in a positive way. My bosses do pay attention. I'll keep pitching those kind of stories and positive feedback from viewers will help them get on the air.
Rich
Nov 19, 2008 | 6:44 PM
Category:
News
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is in a bind. And, Dan Rather put them there. Rather was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the museum's event Saturday night - marking the 45th anniversary of the JFK assasination. I got a note this afternoon from the museum's PR lady and Rather has cancelled, saying he's "been called out of town."
It's my understanding he wasn't supposed to arrive here until just before the event, so "called out of town" seems odd.
Rather would have been an intriguing speaker. He was a young correspondent based in Dallas when the assasination happened. He filed reports out of this studio -- a couple of which I have pulled from deep in our archives and will have posted on our JFK Video site click here
by Saturday. They are fascinating to watch. In one, he reports from Dealey Plaza on the morning that Lee Oswald was supposed to be transported to the Dallas County Jail. Of course, Oswald never made it, instead gunned down by Jack Ruby. In the other, he reports from the studio with former Channel 4 News Director Eddie Barker by his side.
Dan Rather is a controversial figure but I had several deallings with him while we were a CBS affiliate -- during the Mexico City earthquake, for a special I did behind the scenes at CBS News, and during the Waco siege -- and I always found him to be pleasant and professional. I liked him a lot.
I'm guessing the folks at the Sixth Floor Museum don't like him much tonight, however.
Rich
P.S. Don't miss the encore presentation of my 1998 Emmy Award winning documentary "JFK: The Dallas Tapes." It will air Friday night at 9:30 and Saturday at 6:30. As reported, when it happened -- the work of Eddie Barker, Bill Mercer, Wes Wise and others from that weekend in 1963. It's fascinating stuff.
Nov 19, 2008 | 6:22 PM
Category:
Sports
A remarkable story appears on DMN's Sports Blog this afternoon from Tim MacMahon:
A homeless man who goes by Doc was cashing in change at a Cinemark theater in Dallas when a guy walked up and offered to pay his way into the movie. Doc, who planned to spend his day passing out flyers for a few bucks, accepted a rain check before realizing that he recognized the generous gentleman.
"Was that Tony Romo?" Doc asked the kid behind the counter.
It sure was. Doc hustled across the street to the consignment store that paid him to occasionally pass out flyers and requested the day off. By the time he got back to the theater, "Role Model" had already started.
Romo, who confirmed the story but didn't want to elaborate, waved Doc over to sit by him and his buddy. Doc sheepishly mentioned that he hadn't showered in a few days.
"Don't worry about that," Romo said. "I'm used to locker rooms."
And so the $67 million quarterback and a man who doesn't have $6.70 to his name sat next to each other and shared laughs for 90 minutes or so.
For Romo, who made news by changing a couple's tire on the side of the road on the way home the night of the season opener, it was just another kind gesture to a random stranger. It meant the world to Doc.
"For me, it was a blessing," Doc said. "It came at just the right time. It gave me some encouragement and faith in mankind. I just wanted to say thank you."
Most of you will remember the story from a couple months ago when, late at night after getting off the team plane from a road game, Romo pulled over to help a couple change a flat -- just hours after getting his chin busted open during a Cowboys win.
At his core, Tony is still, apparently, the small town kid with a big heart. Even after hanging around with Hollywood starlets and being hounded by fans and media types. He doesn't seem quite the happy-go-lucky kid he was once was. But, still, pretty genuine.
God Bless Tony Romo.
Rich
Nov 14, 2008 | 7:41 PM
Category:
News
A grizzled old newsman like me is tempted, every once in a while, to think I have seen and heard and read it all. Then a story like this one comes along:
Associated Press
Another day, another cell phone found on Texas' death row.
Prison staff conducting a shakedown of the row today found a cell phone in the rectum of convicted murderer Henry Skinner, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons.
They first found two SIM cards, or memory cards, in Skinner's Bible, she said. Because they suspected he also had a cell phone, they took him to the infirmary, did an X-ray and found the cell phone in his rectum.
I came across the story on the Houston Chronicle's website and the comments section was hilarious. One wit offered to wager that they get "crappy reception" on death row. Another surmised that a wily guard had "sniffed out" the problem. Other comments made me laugh and blush and are a bit too racy to repeat them here.
But, this really isn't funny! Is it? What is going on when even death row inmates can get phones smuggled in?
It gives new meaning to the term "cell phone!" But, there I go again making light of it. It is so sad... that it really is funny.
Rich
Nov 12, 2008 | 10:30 AM
Category:
Sports
T-O spent some of his off time traveling to New York to do the Letterman show -- reading a Top Ten -- pretty fun stuff.
Unlike the Cowboys season which has turned terribly un-fun.
For those who missed it.
Rich
Nov 9, 2008 | 4:33 PM
Category:
Faith
THIS COMES FROM CAL THOMAS -- CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN COLUMNIST AND APPEARED IN THE FW STAR TELEGRAM TODAY. YOU CAN CORRECTLY ASSUME THAT I THINK IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. RICH
CHRISTIANS MAY HAVE LEARNED THE MOST FROM THE ELECTION
By Cal Thomas
When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right.
Born in 1979 and midwifed by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Religious Right was a reincarnation of previous religious-social movements that sought moral improvement through legislation and court rulings. Those earlier movements — from abolition (successful) to Prohibition (unsuccessful) — had mixed results.
Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren’t anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts.
The four religious revivals, from the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s to the Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s and early ’70s, which touched America and instantly transformed millions of Americans (and American culture as a result), are testimony to that.
Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed.
The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?
I opt for trying something else.
Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture.
The futility inherent in such misplaced faith can be demonstrated by asking these activists a simple question: Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not.
Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government?
Too many conservative Evangelicals mistake political power for influence. Politicians who struggle with imposing a moral code on themselves are unlikely to succeed in their attempts to impose it on others.
What is the answer, then, for conservative Evangelicals who are rightly concerned about the corrosion of culture, the indifference to the value of human life and the living arrangements of same- and opposite-sex couples?
The answer depends on the response to another question: do conservative Evangelicals want to feel good, or do they want to adopt a strategy that actually produces results?
Clearly partisan politics have not achieved their objectives. Do they think they can succeed by committing themselves to 30 more years of the same?
If results are what conservative Evangelicals want, they already have a model. It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth.
Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals engaged in an old and proven type of radical behavior. Suppose they followed the admonition of Jesus to "love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans," not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating God’s love for the whole person in order that people might seek him?
Such a strategy could be more "transformational" than electing a new president, even the first president of color. But in order to succeed, such a strategy would not be led by charismatic figures, who would raise lots of money, be interviewed on Sunday talk shows, author books and make gobs of money.
God teaches in his word that his power (if that is what conservative Evangelicals want and not their puny attempts at grabbing earthly power) is made perfect in weakness.
He speaks of the tiny mustard seed, the seemingly worthless widow’s mite, of taking the last place at the table and the humbling of one’s self, the washing of feet and similar acts and attitudes; the still, small voice.
How did conservative Evangelicals miss this and instead settle for a lesser power, which in reality is no power at all? When did they settle for an inferior "kingdom"?
Evangelicals are at a junction.
They can take the path that will lead them to more futility and ineffective attempts to reform culture through government, or they can embrace the far more powerful methods outlined by the one they claim to follow.
By following his example, they will decrease, but he will increase. They will get no credit, but they will see results.
If conservative Evangelicals choose obscurity and seek to glorify God, they will get much of what they hope for, but can never achieve, in and through politics.
Nov 8, 2008 | 3:41 PM
Category:
Sports
New boots, black hat and with the prettiest Texas girl on the planet on my arm, I went to the rodeo Friday night - Tom Thumb Texas Stampede at the AAC in Dallas. Truth be told, we're "all hat and no cattle." But, we took friends Wayne and Susan with us and they're not. They own a working cattle ranch about two hours south of Dallas and Wayne is the real deal - at least when he's not running their roofing business.
Fox 4 sponsors Texas Stampede so tickets were available and I'm glad I snapped them up. One of the best rodeos I've been to. Top cowboys, many of them are headed to NFR (the World Series of Rodeo) next month in Las Vegas and a few of them needing just a little prize money to ensure they make the top 15 in their event so they can go to NFR, too.
Texas Stampede continues tonight and Sunday night. Each night has a concert after the rodeo. Tickets remain. Do yourself a favor. We had a blast.
Rich
Nov 7, 2008 | 11:27 AM
Category:
Weather
Why I live in Texas, Reason Number 765:
Thursday (the beginning of my weekend) my oldest son Nick and I spent the day striking little white spheres and chasing them around a very green landscape in Lewisville. I was dressed in shorts (fully aware this can be disturbing to people who've never seen legs quite as skinny as mine) and a short-sleeved Polo shirt. I was quite comfortable. Perfect weather on this early day in November. Ahhh, I savored it.
Meantime, it was snowing and raining and generally miserable in the land of my birth. Oh, yes. Such a marvelous reminder of why I so love my Texas home (well, most of the time). Temperatures in the 80s in North Texas. In the 30s and slushing in southern Minnesota.
Rapid City, SD
Oh, and it gets better. Not far away from my hometown a full-fledged blizzard was raging. I moved here more than 25 years ago. We always go "home" to Minnesota (still tempted to call it home -- though I've actually now lived in Texas longer than anywhere else) for a few days at Christmas. That's all the snow and winter-like weather I require. And, usually, when we return it's in the 60s here with bright, blue skies.
It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood. I think I'll go for a run. Maybe, call Mom later and get all the gory details on the continuing snow and sleet and slush.
Offering my sincerest sympathy, of course.
She may return the favor on some sweltering summer day when it's 105 here and a cool 82 there.
Rich
Nov 6, 2008 | 10:32 AM
Category:
Political
When I saw this the first time it left me speechless. We've been hearing for some time that there was tension between the McCain campaign and Sarah Palin -- but now it's coming out in the open.
I offer this from Fox News -- Shep Smith and Carl Cameron -- without further comment.
Rich
Nov 4, 2008 | 6:09 PM
Category:
Political
Exit polls were off in 2000. Worse in 2004. Nobody trusts them. Pollsters have also tried to wall them off -- to prevent early leaks. Despite all that -- the leaks are becoming a torrent. And, if there is any validity at all to the leaked numbers it is going to be a bad night for John McCain.
The networks only hint at them now. Fox just did so. Telling us on the air that the poll numbers look good for Barack Obama but, wisely, advising that they "need to be taken with a grain of salt."
Matt Drudge is not hinting at all. He has a big red headline now "EXIT POLL NUMBERS SHOW OBAMA BIG."
FYI.
Rich
Nov 3, 2008 | 10:34 PM
Category:
Political
We've heard it from politicians before -- vows to make Washington less partisan, promises to reach across the aisle and get government working again. None has been willing or able to follow through in recent years. But, again this time both Barack Obama and John McCain are making the promise. And, I believe them both. Whichever man is elected tomorrow, I think they will make a good faith effort to change the culture in our nation's capitol, to try and get Republicans and Democrats pulling in the same direction, instead of constantly engaging in political gamesmanship.
The nominations of McCain and Obama were each a victory for a certain kind of politics. They defeated others in their party who tried the Karl Rove style of divide and conquer that worked for George W. Bush. John Edwards among Democrats tried the make-'em-angry approach and it fell flat. Mitt Romney on the Republican side, you could argue, did the same and fell short of McCain who reached out instead to moderates and independents.
One of the things I really liked about Mike Huckabee was his "I'm a conservative but I'm not angry about it" approach. Huckabee surprised a lot of people and got a lot more votes than anybody expected. I think, at least in part, because some of us are tired of all the nasty stuff.
But, if the two men running for President are willing to ratchet down the rhetoric and the spitefulness -- and, this is a big BUT -- are you willing to do the same? Are WE the voters willing to bury the hatchet and move on? Honestly, I don't think so. Not from what I see on this blog. Not from what I hear in the streets. And, that cuts from one end of the political spectrum to the other. Democrats demonize Republicans. Republicans demonize Democrats. Good, loving people become hateful and angry when the subject of politics comes up.
Wednesday morning America will wake up to a new president that roughly half of us did not vote for. But, he will be President of the United States. It promises to be a real test of our national character.
Rich
Nov 2, 2008 | 6:04 PM
Category:
Sports
I always have a great time shooting my Lone Star Adventure -- but the one that airs tonight is one of my favorites. A couple of weeks ago photographer John Thompson and I traveled west to a ranch near Dublin, Texas -- home of DeerChannel.Com. Owner Tom Brooks and his crew have put together quite an operation. One that gives viewers on the internet a deer's eye view of the world. They've figured out how to put a live camera on the antlers of a big buck. And, the footage that results is incredible!
I'm going to make this a short post. You really need to see the video. Tonight (Sunday) in the 9pm news. And, here on the internet www.myfoxdfw.com.
Rich
Nov 1, 2008 | 6:02 PM
Category:
Traffic
This post has been edited by an administrator
Let me start with a confession. For most of my adult life I drove way too fast. Way too fast. Youthful indiscretions that cost me a lot of money in speeding tickets, threatened the loss of my license at one point... way too fast.
But, when gas prices started to skyrocket a few months ago I happened to read a couple stories about hyper-milers - the folks who set their speed at between 55-60, try not to brake, coast when they can, maximizing mileage. At $4/gallon it seemed like the prudent thing to do. I tried it. And, I liked it. I set the cruise control at 60 (the speed limit on my drive to work), get out of the passing lane and relax.
The problem is, driving the speed limit often makes me feel like I'm about to be run over. No one else is doing it. Time and again cars blow up on my back bumper, then whip around. Does no one else drive the speed limit?
For awhile, I thought it was catching on. Amid those going 85 or 90 were at least a few doing the speed limit, too. But, as gas prices drop, the speed of those around me seems to have soared back up.
I know it's hypocritical for me to complain about what I did myself for so many years. But, I'm telling you, the speed limit is the way to go. I just wish a few others would join me on the way.
Rich
Oct 31, 2008 | 3:13 PM
Category:
Political
In general, people who tell you they don't believe the polls are really just saying they don't like what the polls are telling them. In this case, if you want John McCain elected president and not Barack Obama -- well, just don't believe the polls.
The fact is that polls over the last 50 years have been very accurate. In a close race they can't tell you exactly who is going to win but, generally, they are within a couple percentage points of the outcome.
Having said that, this year IS different. And, the obstacles facing pollsters are much greater than they've been in the past. I think voters are much more likely to lie to pollsters (for what reason I can't imagine other than just to be obstinate) and others are much more likely to refuse to answer (which makes more sense to me if they feel it's a privacy issue). The emergence of cell phones has made it more difficult to get an accurate sample because pollsters have traditionally contacted people on landlines. But, the overriding problem this year is in figuring out who will actually vote. Blacks and young people have registered in much larger numbers than in the past. From what we've seen in early voting, Blacks are clearly turning out in bigger numbers but there is evidence that, once again, young voters are largely no-shows. Maybe they're waiting for election day. To get an accurate sample pollsters need to figure out who really is a likely voter. The old models are not going to work this time.
Thus, the polls are all over the place. They all show Obama leading but the range is ridiculous -- from 15 points to a narrow 2 or 3.
I think Exit Polling is going to be even more difficult to do accurately. Suspect Exit Poll numbers in 2000 caused all sorts of confusion. In response, everyone was much more careful with the Exit Poll numbers in 2004 but they were worse. The Washington Post called the 2004 Exit Poll results the most inaccurate ever. Add to that the growing influence of Early Voting (half the Texas vote or more will be over by today) and Exit Polls get really complicated.
Then there's the so-called Bradley Factor. Named after a Los Angeles mayor who ran for the Senate decades ago. Polled as if he were in the lead the whole way but then got beat. The conclusion was that in Californa then, at least, some white voters would claim they were voting for a Black candidate but then would not actually cast their ballot for him. Most political observers will tell you that the Bradley Factor has not been seen in decades but.... Well, it's still being tossed around as a possibility this time.
If I was a betting man (I'm not except for the occasional soda wager) I would put my money on Obama. The polls can occasionally be wrong. But, they will have to be substantially wrong for John McCain to win. Every tossup state will have to go his way and a couple of states that look like sure wins for Obama will have to break right, too.
Still - something tells me unusual things could happen on Tuesday. John McCain is predicting an upset like we had 60 years ago -- 1948 Democrat Harry Truman -- declared dead in the polls -- instead beat Republican Tom Dewey.
The final poll is always the one that counts. And, we should know about that one pretty early Tuesday night. If McCain holds on to Ohio and the other battleground states that George Bush won four years ago, there will be a race. If Virginia and Ohio -- maybe even North Carolina go for Obama -- it's probably over.
Either way, I'm ready for it all to be over.
Rich
Oct 29, 2008 | 4:28 PM
Category:
Entertainment
Last week the bride and I took a few days off in order to avoid the World Series games Saturday and Sunday. One of the better decisions I've made lately. Fox 4 News last Saturday night was held hostage to a rain delay. Natalie and company didn't get out of here until after 1:30am Sunday! I feel their pain.
Anyway, with the extra days off we decided to go to Austin for some family time with Catherine's sister Victoria and brother-in-law Kevin. Then to swing back to a ranch owned by friends Susan and Wayne for a couple days of horseback riding and good Christian fellowship and finally to stop in Waxahachie for more fellowship and Sunday night services at Heritage Baptist Church with Al and Elaine - Catherine's folks.
Susan and Wayne at their ranch near Oakwood
It was a Road Trip. And, it didn't break the bank! We found gasoline at a RaceWay in Waco for $2.22 a gallon. Never paid more than $2.39. Yipee!!
The one silver lining in this terrible time of economic crisis is the dropping price of oil. Gasoline prices haven't dropped as fast. But, we trust they will continue to come down. And, encourage the Rays, at least, to start taking road trips again.
We've started talking about driving to the Grand Canyon or Colorado next summer. Maybe somewhere in New Mexico for skiing this winter. Maybe to the coast for some fishing this fall. With gas at $4/gallon that's just not feasible.
Airline prices have not come down at all. They need to before we can resume flying. For us, the Road Trip is now King.
Rich
