Article December 12, 1994 Issue

The news media and prayer

This week the Sentinel looks at media coverage of a renewed interest, in the United States, in the effectiveness of prayer.

It seems everyone's talking about it—Life magazine gave 2,400 words and eight striking photographs to it in March; The Boston Phoenix gave five pages to it in August; The Oprah Winfrey Show debated it "live" on network television for an hour in April.

The news media in the United States have been quick to identify the power of prayer as a story worth covering. Religious themes have also slipped unobtrusively into several prime-time television shows such as Christy on CBS, Thea on ABC, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman on CBS, and Against the Grain on NBC, in all of which faith has been treated with greater respect than previously.