Athletes' missions attract media attention

So what it is about Mormons that usually attracts media attention? It's usually when we do something weird or illegal (or we get confused with people who do weird or illegal things) or when Mormons hit the court, gridiron, stage or write a good book. This is my working hypothesis: when religious affiliation is known, journalists tend to mention that someone is Mormon in their reporting more than they label those of other faiths. For better or for worse, we as a "peculiar people" have our faith amplified while the media barely mentions the faith of others in similar reports. Of course, Mormons usually don't mind if it is a positive story, but when it's negative we usually get our lather up. So are we treated fairly when the media chooses to identify religious affiliation of a story subject? Let me know what you think or send links to good and bad reporting about Mormons at foiguy@gmail.com. I'll summarize readers responses in a future column.Here are some examples of how the media has reported on Mormons in the past few weeks.Sports and missionsIt's an old standby. A Mormon athlete serves a mission, makes it in the big leagues and it becomes a feature story. The Miami Herald recently featured stories of Mormon athletes on the Miami Dolphins football team and how missionary service helped prepare them for life."After high school or early in college, (John) Beck, long-snapper/defensive lineman John Denney, fourth-round draft pick Shawn Murphy and undrafted free agent linebacker Kelly Poppinga went on an unpaid two-year Mormon mission, which Mormon men can do anytime between ages 19 and 27. And they couldn't be prouder of those two years or how it helped them grow as people, and even as football players," The Herald wrote.The Canadian Broadcasting Company also featured Aaron Wagner, who is now a linebacker with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. Wagner talks about the tougher side of Las Vegas were he served his mission. "People are looking for hope, they want something good in their lives. They're just trying to reach out and find it. I don't know how much I helped them, but I know the message and the Gospel that I shared changed a lot of people's lives," Wagner said in the article. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also featured Texas football standout Michael Yeck, who will play at BYU.VampiresOften described as a "Mormon mother of three," Stephenie Meyer has been a media darling for her work on the Twilight series. Her widely anticipated "Breaking Dawn" was released Saturday. She was described as one of the most influential people of 2008 by Time magazine and a possible contender to best J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter series. The German newspaper Die Welt, had the following headline: "A Mormon on Mrs. Rowling's throne; Stephenie Meyer will redeem the book industry. Your vampire stories could replace Harry Potter"UK's Guardian recently wrote about Meyer's inspiration: " 'To be honest, I feel like I was guided through that process,' Meyer told an interviewer in 2005, after publication of 'Twilight.' The guide she was referring to was not her New York agent Jodi Reamer, or Elizabeth Eulberg, director of global publicity for Stephenie Meyer, at her U.S. publisher Little, Brown. Rather, her guide is a more lofty being: Meyer is a Mormon and, while her books avoid direct mention of religion, her faith informs her work. Interviewed on amazon.com, she declared that the Book of Mormon was the book 'with the most significant impact on [her] life'. Accordingly, her books, in the words of one critic, are full of sexual tension but remain 'as decorous as Jane Austen'."See other reports here, here, here and here.