Center for the Study of Democracy

This paper examines why the press has failed to adequately understand and report on the role of religion in American politics. The author argues that certain shortcomings and limitations of the press- including its short attention span and its emphasis on immediacy - often undermine the press’s ability to see the broader picture and to recognize that something happening now connects to something that happened before. In order to identify and explain the impact of religious and moral values on our national politics and policy-making, journalists need to better understand the faith-based center of the country and how religion informs the day-to-day political attitudes and behavior of citizens and readers. The paper analyzes why the press has been unable to get its arms around moral and religious centrism.