Wall Street Journal editor speaks and teaches seminar
Cody Ewers
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
She's an editor for one of the most respected newspapers in America, but for two weeks Naomi Schaefer Riley left her job to teach a journalism class at Hillsdale College.
Riley, deputy taste editor for the Wall Street Journal, covers religion and higher education for the paper. She has been on the college's campus for the past two weeks teaching a seminar to journalism students.
"Of all the topics you could ask somebody about, this is the most interesting to me," Riley said.
She also gave a lecture to faculty, staff and students on Tuesday night titled, "The God Beat: How Journalists Got Religion, But Still Don't Get Religion."
Her fascination with religion stems from her interest in the subject and the type of controversy that surrounds it, she said.
Riley first began writing for a conservative newspaper at her alma mater, Harvard University, and later became convinced that journalism was her vocation after she interned with the Wall Street Journal.
Riley is also a mother and juggles her home life with journalism.
"Journalism is a good career for someone who has a family," Riley said. "I work three days a week at home and don't really travel much."
Riley's husband, Jason Riley, is also a journalist on the editorial staff at the Wall Street Journal.
She conducts her classes much like she would a newsroom, relying on peer-to-peer criticism to teach. Riley imparts her wisdom to her students by relating personal experiences.
Riley's talk this past Tuesday was sprinkled with humor as she highlighted religion in the media and various journalistic approaches to it.
"Writing about religion should be as much like writing about other subjects as possible," Riley said.
In her lecture, she said that most journalists write shallow, biased religion stories instead of listening and reporting on what interviewees say.
Riley described how religious writers can write fairly by basing their judgment calls not on their own notions about religion but rather on intellectual context, and the effect of religious people in secular life.
Sophomore Nathan Lichtman said he enjoyed Riley's speech.
"It's good to hear that a major editor is looking at [religion]," Lichtman said. "Writing without bias about faith is a good sign of hope."
Riley has written for several esteemed publications such as The L.A. Times, National Review, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times. She wrote the book, "God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation are Changing America," which explores the question of why enrollment has increased among America's religious colleges.
The Herbert H. Dow II Program in American Journalism brings a professional journalist to campus every semester through the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2007
Riley, deputy taste editor for the Wall Street Journal, covers religion and higher education for the paper. She has been on the college's campus for the past two weeks teaching a seminar to journalism students.
"Of all the topics you could ask somebody about, this is the most interesting to me," Riley said.
She also gave a lecture to faculty, staff and students on Tuesday night titled, "The God Beat: How Journalists Got Religion, But Still Don't Get Religion."
Her fascination with religion stems from her interest in the subject and the type of controversy that surrounds it, she said.
Riley first began writing for a conservative newspaper at her alma mater, Harvard University, and later became convinced that journalism was her vocation after she interned with the Wall Street Journal.
Riley is also a mother and juggles her home life with journalism.
"Journalism is a good career for someone who has a family," Riley said. "I work three days a week at home and don't really travel much."
Riley's husband, Jason Riley, is also a journalist on the editorial staff at the Wall Street Journal.
She conducts her classes much like she would a newsroom, relying on peer-to-peer criticism to teach. Riley imparts her wisdom to her students by relating personal experiences.
Riley's talk this past Tuesday was sprinkled with humor as she highlighted religion in the media and various journalistic approaches to it.
"Writing about religion should be as much like writing about other subjects as possible," Riley said.
In her lecture, she said that most journalists write shallow, biased religion stories instead of listening and reporting on what interviewees say.
Riley described how religious writers can write fairly by basing their judgment calls not on their own notions about religion but rather on intellectual context, and the effect of religious people in secular life.
Sophomore Nathan Lichtman said he enjoyed Riley's speech.
"It's good to hear that a major editor is looking at [religion]," Lichtman said. "Writing without bias about faith is a good sign of hope."
Riley has written for several esteemed publications such as The L.A. Times, National Review, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times. She wrote the book, "God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation are Changing America," which explores the question of why enrollment has increased among America's religious colleges.
The Herbert H. Dow II Program in American Journalism brings a professional journalist to campus every semester through the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2007
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