Diane Winston has worked as a reporter for several of the nation's leading newspapers, including the Baltimore Sun, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald and The News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. She covered Falwell frequently in the 80s and 90s.

She is the author of Red-Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army (1999) and co-editor of Faith in the Market: Religion and the Rise of Urban Commercial Culture (2002). She has directed religion and media projects at New York University and Northwestern University. Currently, she is the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at USC's Annenberg School for Communication. She holds an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University.

Blog Entries by Diane Winston

Does the News, oops the Universe, Have a Purpose?

Posted October 9, 2007 | 05:36 PM (EST)


Usually a newspaper is just a newspaper. But other times, it points to something beyond its ephemeral self. Sunday's New York Times "Week in Review" is a case in point, encapsulating the problem of and solution to two of journalism's current quandaries. How to make readers care and how best...

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Red on Saffron: Burma Bleeds and Ledes the News

Posted October 1, 2007 | 05:27 PM (EST)


The Burmese junta's brutal smack down of Buddhist monks and civilian protesters continues to headline American media outlets. But for a deeper, fuller picture of events and the central role of the country's religious men and women, you'll need to track down international sources.

For the particulars...

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Religion and Politics, Saffron-Style

Posted September 25, 2007 | 01:53 PM (EST)


Now that President Bush has imposed sanctions on the Burmese junta, the growing protests against the dictatorship -- and the galvanizing role Buddhist monks have played in mobilizing public outrage -- should get the coverage it deserves from the American media.

Until recently, domestic news outlets have...

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Huckabee: The Last (Real) Baptist

Posted September 24, 2007 | 05:10 PM (EST)


All the media brouhaha around John McCain: Is he or isn't he a Baptist, and yet so little attention to the Republican candidate who is the real deal. Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and second place winner of the Ames Iowa straw poll is a Southern Baptist preacher...

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Press Coverage of Religion Tilts Right

Posted June 7, 2007 | 05:36 PM (EST)


With its recent report "Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media," Media Matters confirms what some news consumers previously suspected: Press coverage of religion tilts right. The media watchdog's survey reveals that mainstream television and newspapers quote, mention and interview conservative religious leaders nearly...

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Falwell Had a Dream

Posted May 22, 2007 | 04:47 PM (EST)


Jerry Falwell liked to credit the Rev. Martin Luther King for his political conversion. A Southern fundamentalist, Falwell initially esteemed heavenly rewards over earthly ones, but by the 1970s, he was done waiting for the sweet by-and-by. The Supreme Court's decisions to ban school prayer and Bible reading had been...

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