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One Journalist's Take on Faith and Media
By Craig Pinley
PORTLAND, OR (November 21, 2002) - Steve Duin says he has never been shy about
giving his opinion.
That trait serves him well as a general news columnist for the Portland
Oregonian, a role he has played for more than two decades. A member of
West Hills Covenant Church in Portland, Duin (pronounced "deen") began with
the Oregonian in 1980. He was a sports columnist from 1984-1988 and
a political columnist from 1988-1994. A sister, Julia, is also in the
newspaper business, working for
the Washington Times.
Describing his job as "the easiest thing I do," Duin doesn't mind getting
to the heart of an issue in or around the Portland area served by his
newspaper. Criticism is part of the business, he says, noting that after so
many years of column writing and handling reader response, "I have an
incredibly thick skin."
As a columnist, Duin has the opportunity to write about a wide variety of
subjects, from the mayor to a reading program endorsed by the teacher one
of his three children. Duin has delved into the subject of religion on
occasion - he wrote about the Dalai Lama's appearance in Portland and has
written about the parachurch ministry of Young Life. He believes that
religion is a topic worth writing about and gives the Oregonian a
"3" rating on a scale of 1-10 in its coverage of religion.
"I think, generally, the media is a much more diverse creature than we're
given credit for," said Duin of media coverage in general. "I think the
media is less liberal than it's perceived, less humanistic than it is
perceived. I don't know that I'd argue that Christians are rare in the
media - maybe they're not free to give a voice to matters of faith.
"As with most special areas, we don't try hard enough," Duin continued. "We
fail to convey the complexities of faith. We opt for the happy endings. The
Oregonian is better than most. I think this newspaper is a pretty
good reflection of the community that it serves. The key to getting better
coverage is simple: you need reporters willing to get
into the heads and hearts of their sources."
Duin writes for the Metro section now, but he began his career with the
Oregonian covering sports. Besides his column, Duin has written two
books: Comics: Between the Panels,a history of comics, and Blast
Off, a retrospective on vintage space toys.
"I do feel a calling to journalism," Duin said. "I have never regretted
what I do. And I've always believed that when I was tempted to give up this
business, God directly intervened and provided this job at the
Oregonian."
Covering religion as a news event can differ from writing about religion in
a column. In some ways, columnists have more freedom to use religious
terminology, noting that he has discussed issues that have allowed him to
incorporate language such as "the mercy of God" and "the lordship of
Jesus." However, Duin doesn't believe that being a columnist who is a
Christian gives him the right to force his views on people or defend
Christianity at every turn. He is satisfied that the positive relationships
he has built with Oregonian staffers and his efforts at journalistic
integrity have provided a Christian witness both inside and outside of his
office.
"I'm at the crossroads at two very high ethical standards," Duin said. "One
is the one that journalists need to honor and the other is the moral
standard Christians are asked to reach - perhaps they come into conflict. I
will go after people as a journalist and columnist in a way that I wouldn't
go after them as a Christian. I've been fairly relentless in criticizing
the mayor of Portland and I think I'm doing my job as a journalist, but
maybe not fulfilling my duty as a Christian in the sense of my
relentlessness of criticizing her performance. When those two ethical
standards come into conflict, I think maybe I raise my journalistic
responsibility over my responsibility as a Christian - I've certainly been
accused of that. And maybe that's how I've survived in my business.
"I err on the side of subtlety in my writing," Duin continued. "I let my
column speak for itself. The column I wrote regarding the reactions of some
Christians to the Portland appearance of the Dalai Lama . . . generated
hundreds of emails and phone calls. I did not correct those who regarded
the piece as your standard anti-Christian tirade . . . We're
perceived as biased too often just because we've brushed up against a
subject near the heart of our readers. Judgment is crucial in being a
columnist and I think they (management) allow me to deal with matters of
faith because of the way I deal with sensitivity in the other things that I
do, like city hall bureaucracy."
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