Established in 1999, Faith Angle helps mainstream journalists better understand religion by introducing leading columnists, editors, and reporters to religion scholars and clerics for sustained discussions that take place hundreds of miles removed from national newsrooms. By convening 2½-day forums, Faith Angle resources and supports journalists in the effort to help bridge the gap between often-secular newsrooms and the religious communities and issues they cover.
In recent years, Faith Angle has grown significantly—from convening a pair of annual forums, initially for 10 years in Maine and then another decade in Florida, to adding, in 2018, a “Michael Cromartie Forum,” for a dozen journalists under the age of 35 whose careers show special promise; then launching, in 2019, a twice-monthly Faith Angle Podcast, which pairs a leading journalist with a religion scholar or cleric; and finally adding, in 2019, a new annual forum in Southern France that convenes 8-10 European journalists with 6-8 American journalists and religion scholars.
This proposal requests a second year of JTF investment to continue that growth, by supporting staff costs and underwriting a Spring 2025 Faith Angle Forum in Miami. This capital would enable the program to host four annual forums in 2024-25. In addition to making the March forum for primarily East Coast journalists possible, the Foundation would be helping us strengthen three other annual forums, as well as Faith Angle’s twice-monthly podcast, which grew last year from reaching 1,700 regular listeners to over 1,900 listeners, including many journalists. We would continue this year to employ a part-time media specialist, but also to collaborate with a podcast-platform that puts as an offering Faith Angle episodes before an audience of more than 10,000 subscribers.
