Thursday, July 10, 2008

British Press 101


OK ... if you're going to follow this Lambeth stuff, you'll have to get used to reading the British press and to get ready for that I recommend "Uncle Jim Explains It All" over at Episcopal Cafe, wherein Jim Naughton gives a tutorial on what to look for to find what actually got said:


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This Telegraph story on Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is a classic example of an ideologically-motivated newspaper writing conflict-mongering headlines that the text of the story cannot support.

The PB didn't "wade in" to anything; she was asked a question and she answered. She didn't say those who oppose having women as bishops "simply don't like them," she said that was among the issues for some opponents. And she doesn't "accuse" the English Church of going too slow, as writer Martin Beckford has it. She said that the English way of proceeding on this issue looks slow to Americans.

Strip away the T'graph's bluster. Read only the PB's quotes. Then decide if you would characterize the interview as they did.

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