News-Record.com

Much of the discussion about the news media these days involves political bias. I rarely hear debate -- and rarely get letters -- about religious bias. But it's an interesting subject worth pursuing. Over the weekend, a friend, who happens to be a Protestant minister, praised Tom Steadman's Sunday story on Royce Reynolds. The theme of that article was that Reynolds' Christian faith has driven his philanthrophy.

Then the pastor wrote: "I feel compelled to write and encourage the paper to include in the near future, if you are not already planning to, articles on other faith traditions as well -- Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, etc. I am aware that it can be very difficult, especially in the case of faithful Muslims, to get someone to speak publicly about their faith, but I believe this would provide a better reflection of the reality that is now our community, and would avoid the appearance that you are promoting one faith. This could also help enrich our community's understanding of those whose beliefs differ from our own."

Exactly. One of the jobs of a newspaper is to reflect the community in all of its diversity. We need to do better in that. I cannot say that we're overtly biased on religion. I think, though, that we write about what we know, and we know Christianity best. I don't know the religious makeup of our staff, but I suspect that most are Christians. If we had more Jewish, Muslim or Sikh staff members -- or any, in some cases -- their stories would be better reflected in the paper.

Our challenge -- and one we'll take up -- is to excel at portraying the impact faith -- all faiths -- has on people's lives. Knowledge leads to understanding and acceptance, which helps the community at large. If you know of stories, Christian or non-Christian, that illustrate the power of faith, let us know. Our religion reporter, Nancy McLaughlin, would love to hear them. Her direct e-mail is nmclaughlin@news-record.com