If religious organizations want to get more attention from the media, they should be careful what they wish for. They just might get it. That was one message to emerge from the June 7-9 Faith and the Media conference at Carleton University. Several journalists pointed out that reporters are not interested in being the publicists for religious groups, and said that good religion reporting should not make religious leaders any happier than good political reporting makes politicians.
Many religious leaders say that's fine, as long as the reporting is accurate.
Although there were some horror stories of reporters with little knowledge, or worse, with their own agendas, many delegates reported positive dealings with the media. 100 Huntley Street host David Mainse has also been in a few firestorms during his career as a television evangelist. But he too claims to have had mostly positive experiences with the media. Mainse cautions, however, that it's a good idea to be on the look out for reporters with suspect motives. On one occasion, a news crew offered to drive him to the airport and interview him in the car to save time.