Local news in the US: are all stations this Jesusy?

How do you know that? I am not completely familiar with all aspects of American law, but is there some requirement that people not endorse a religion on television? Who governs what religious people may say?

Why is it different. May things be said at Walmart that are unlawful to say on TV? Other than religious statements, can you provide some examples?

Not wanting to get in the religious aspects of this (or I would have gone GD or the pit instead) but just wondering if other parts of the US handled local news the same way. But no, there is no requirement that news programming avoid endorsing a religion. What requires not endorsing a religion is being a competent journalist looking at objective facts and not injecting their personal beliefs into a story. I’m not accusing them of breaking laws, I’m accusing them of being piss-poor journalists.

As I think one or two other people said, that’s not the local news, that’s the locals.
If the local news stations are reporting on crimes (particularly involving deaths) in areas where people are religious, then that’s going to be reflected in the news when they interview people.

I noticed a few people upthread said that they don’t see it at all, so just to toss in another anecdote, I do see it quite a bit. Usually when a news crew shows up and talks to witnesses or relatives soon after a death (accidental or otherwise).

The thread title made it sound like the news anchors where mentioning Jesus or bringing religion into the news, but if it’s just the people the field reporters are talking to, then it’s just the ‘field’ you’re living in.

Also, to be fair, if you are suggesting that it’s the actual news station; they can’t add more Jesus references via editing and to remove them all would show some kind of bias. It’s really only fair to show a proper representation of the area they’re reporting on. If you live in a highly religious area (or more crime happens in religious parts of town), you’re going to see that when you watch your local news.

Not under law AFAIK. The broadcast franchise requirement is to “serve the community”, the news programming is subject to the standards of free speech/press, and there are restrictions on such things as incitement, libel, or indecency/obscenity, but not religious expression that I can find. The law does not forbid editorializing, that is the purview of news departments and station/network “standards and practices” offices and it used to be that you’d strictly separate straight reporting from editorial commentary but that line has been fading.

In the entertainment or “paid programming” blocs, your content can be as religious as you want and there’s no equal time mandate.

The standards and practices department also sets forth if there are subjects or language the on-air staff should avoid as a matter of policy, but that is not mandated by law. IME it’s a standard professional practice rule that you do not *proselytize *in your newsman role, but a “thank God for that” or “this was a blessing” would be seen as a casual expression of empathy.

I cannot imagine how one can report any news story without injecting their personal beliefs into it. “Sunny and nice tomorrow, good day for the beach,” in an expression of personal opinion.

(Grumble, double post)

That sounds like a confirmation bias.
In your community, think about how many people of each religion there are to begin with? How many of them do you run into on a daily basis? Even better, how often, just casually, do you hear someone say ‘have a blessed day!’ or ‘have a nice night, god bless, see you tomorrow’ vs… to be honest, I don’t know any salutations that invoke dieties from other regions and where I live I see plenty of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus. I think Jesus/Lord/God is thrown around a bit more casually, or if not casually at least more often.

“It’s expected to be sunny tomorrow, with highs in the mid 80s(F). Lots of folks will likely head for the beach.”

It conveys the same information–the temperature, the fact that it’s unlikely to rain, and that the beaches are likely to be busy. However, it leaves out the value judgment as to whether “sunny and mid 80s(F)” is nice weather, nor does it weigh in on whether or not a trip to the beach is a good idea, regardless of the weather.

I’m not saying that every reporter should meticulously avoid injecting opinions into every report. In fact, I think that would be unnecessarily awkward and sometimes counterproductive. However, I think objectivity is an important value in journalism and should weigh heavily in the construction of reports on factual matters.

Right. And it is also a different thing for a reporter to agree that a child was healed by the direct intervention of a supernatural being so that that healing may become a message to others (as happened in the above mentioned, aired story.) To that I must say: cite?

Even in ultra-liberal NorCal, I hear local newscasters say “our thoughts and prayers are with the family as the deal with their grief”. To a certain extent, that’s just stuff people say. I’m sure there are places where it is more sincere than others. I don’t know if this is peculiarly American or not, but we certain hear our politicians (on the right and the left) say similar stuff all the time.

Oops. Forgot to mention that I’m in northern Arkansas, and the local news I watch is usually from southern Missouri (as the other option in my area is from Little Rock, which is much farther away).

And I have no problem with it done in the manner I described.

It’s been 20 years, but in Miami the most religiousy thing you’d see for local non-religious news was one person exclaiming a relieved “oh, thank God!” When a piece of news had people going hallellujah and chorusing pray-the-Lords, it was local news from Other Places.

If a comentator in Spain or France said that, he’d have a nurse and a psychiatrist waiting for him outside the room. The nurse to check for a fever, and the psychiatrist in case the thermometer didn’t find anything strange.

I’m sure there are all sorts of thoughts the local people of an area say in the Deep South that would be unwelcome aired in the broadcast media.

Yes, there are always people who want everyone to behave in a way that does not cause the least little bit of discomfort. For them, there is a channel selector. Why you would not want to know what your neighbors think is a mystery to me.

At least in my area, statements like that are also very much a class identifier, telling you more about what side of the tracks someone is from than how religious they are.

Why do I need to know what my neighbors think about the hereafter or what their beliefs are?

“Another beautiful sunny dry day tomorrow” has a particularly stupid ring when you’re in the middle of a severe drought. But newscasters do it anyway.

To each country its own. I was surprised, at first when I started watching the Tour de France how the European riders would often make the sign of the cross as they rode across the finish line. Sometimes these religious practices just become cultural norms, not necessarily tied to the actual worship of the Christian God.

All. The. Time.

The station I watch in Raleigh for news is a master of tuggin’ those heart strings. I can just imagine the producers in the morning meetings, “…try to get someone crying. Oh, and someone mentioning Jesus. If you can get both of those in a story about the military, you get an extra day off.”

I don’t perceive this tactic as supporting religion any more than I see it as supporting the salaries of the news company employees.

Jesus saves? Nah, Jesus sells here in the south.