Mormon Media Observer on MormonTimes.com: Grade time for media coverage of Mormons

Grades: Coverage from Obama's mother to \"nutty fellow\" Many schools are close to or have wrapping up their year and so, in that tradition, I am again issuing grades on coverage of Mormons and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. AThe Chicago Tribune: \"Church: Obama's mother posthumously baptized by Latter-day Saint.\" This was a complex story with a lot nuances that some reporters and news organizations easily simplified.Tribune religion reporter Manya Brachear with did an excellent job of correctly sorting out of the nuances in the story and the headline, usually written by a copy editor, was also accurate. I was also impressed Brachear used the term \"Latter-day Saints\" in the story.Brachear gives a more personal view in her column entry. I think many insiders would still quibble with other headlines and stories that appeared on the topic including the headline \"Mormons baptize Obama's mother\" and lead on ABC News \"President's Late Mother Improperly, Posthumously, Baptized as a Mormon.\"AThe Washington Times: \"Marriage as a Mormon value.\" Wow. A reporter actually took the time to visit a Young Singles Adult ward and write about why Latter-day Saints have such a high percentage of adherents who marry. Julia Duin is a religion reporter for the Washington Times. A-The New York Times: \"Optimism in the Mormon Heartland.\" This story examines the Salt Lake City downtown development in a very balanced way. The only real fault I found with the story is the repeated term \"Mormon Church.\" Even the Associated Press stylebook indicates that there is no such organization and that references should use a lower case \"c,\" as in \"Mormon church.\" I'll cut the writer some slack since she is a business reporter not a religion reporter. FThe Guardian: \"Aung San Suu Kyi intruder is Mormon and Vietnam vet.\" Maev Kennedy, columnist at the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper plays up faith of a \"nutty fellow\" who entered Myanmar opposition leader's Aung San Suu Kyi residence.The intruder's presence may have unwittingly led to a longer detention period for Suu Kyi. Kennedy and others played up the man's faith without giving much reason. Would Kennedy have reported the intruder was Anglican or Catholic?The Times of London did a bit more digging and found the man suffers from mental illness. At the least the New York Times when reporting the story gave some relevance to the man's faith. The paper said the intruder had prayed with the Nobel prize winner. Other news agencies gave reference in passing. Agence France-Presse only mentioned the man's church affiliation in the last paragraph of a story.So here's one without a grade: How would rate Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele's suggestion that base Republicans had a problem with the 2008 presidential candidate's Mormonism? Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's camp was not happy and asked and received Steele's apology see The Hill and USA Today. The problem is that Steele was likely speaking the truth and others agree including Mark Silk at Trinity College and editor of Religion in the News.So what can we do to overcome negative perceptions of Mormons in politics and society in general? That's a topic for a whole other column.