2022 RNA Conference

March 24-26, 2022 at The Bethesdan Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland

Thursday, March 24

Lunch sponsored by the Global Religion Initiative (AP, RNS and The Conversation)
Religion journalism isn’t just local: It’s global. But broadening your geographic scope can be challenging. Together representatives from the three news organizations that make up the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, funded by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., will reflect on how they — and other religion journalists — can find new and imaginative ways to go global with their work. Panelists from The Associated Press, The Conversation and Religion News Service also will discuss the practical, including how they have found in-country freelancers, pitched their skeptical editors and more. Come prepared to share your own experiences on navigating the international faith beat — the panelists will welcome your insights.

  • Moderator: David Crary, Associated Press

  • Deepa Bharath, Associated Press

  • Paul O’Donnell, Religion News Service

  • Kalpana Jain, The Conversation

Finding God in Chocolate City
D.C. is still a predominantly Black city and religion in Black communities is more than just Protestant Christianity. What are the local groups that make up the religious diversity of the nation's capital? How do they play a role in the shifting make up of the city as gentrification and revitalization continue to change the face of “Chocolate City”? This panel will explore these topics.

  • Moderator: Adelle Banks, Religion News Association

  • Ryane Nickens, TaRon Center

  • Carole Mumin, Masjid Muhammad

  • Ayesha Ali, Heart Refuge Mindfulness Community

  • Nii Odoi Glover, Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Washington DC

Religion & Queer Rights
This panel will explore the complicated relationship between the queer rights movement and religion at a time when a growing number of anti-LGBTQ state bills have been proposed across the country. There have also been significant changes in both the doctrines and approaches of diverse religious groups concerning LGBTQ people in the past 15 years. This panel will consider the ways in which religion has lent itself to the queer rights movement, what has caused public opinion among religious Americans to drastically shift, and what trends journalists should be paying attention to in the years ahead.

  • Moderator: Guthrie Graves-FitzSimmons, Center for American Progress

  • Sharon Groves, Auburn Seminary

  • Michael Haycock, Georgetown University

  • Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

The New Religious Paradigm: From Judeo-Christian to Interfaith America sponsored by InterFaith Youth Core
At this panel, Dr. Eboo Patel and Dr. Robby Jones will offer the latest demographic trends and polling to reveal how Americans view our growing religious diversity as well as imagine strategies for how to leverage America’s increasing religious pluralism for the benefit of civic society.

RNA Mentor Program Meetup
This is an informal meetup for participants in RNA's mentoring program. Grab a snack and say hello to other participants in the program.

Don’t Call It a Cult: Reporting on Fundamentalism, Orthodoxy, and New Religious Movements
America has a renewed interest in religious groups that exist outside of the mainstream, and dozens of new documentaries, podcasts, and even reality TV shows are devoted to the topic. But what are best practices for reporting thoughtfully, carefully, and sensitively on religious groups that are new, small, or have a vastly different theology than most of your audience? How can you work to make sure your coverage is both investigative and sensitive? This panel will seek to answer these questions, and more.

  • Moderator: Sarah Ventre, independent audio journalist

  • Anuttama Dasa, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

  • Melissa Weisz, The Forbidden Apple podcast

  • Shirlee Draper, Cherish Families

Welcome reception sponsored by Religion News Association

  • Jeff Diamant, RNA contest chair

  • Betsy Shirley, RNA president

  • Christine DiPasquale, RNA interim director

Living the Job: How Embedding Changes the Story
Reporting a deep dive story, working in an insular community, or developing trust with skeptical sources takes time. Lots of time. Audio journalist Sarah Ventre embedded in the FLDS community of Short Creek and lived in the former prophet's house as part of her reporting for her documentary podcast series, “Unfinished: Short Creek.” Shirlee Draper comes from that community and had many conversations with Sarah about the ways in which journalists typically only get a surface understanding of the community, and the damage that does. Together, we'll discuss the benefits and difficulties of this approach, which allows journalists a look into the parts of our subjects’ lives that often remain hidden, yet have immense importance.

  • Shirlee Draper, Cherish Families

  • Sarah Ventre, independent audio journalist

Friday, March 25

Breakfast sponsored by network exhibitors

Religion & Law in the Public Square
This Supreme Court term has been described as the most important in decades, and includes several faith-related cases. However, the intersections of law and religion far exceed the dockets of the Court, and abound in our public rhetoric and also, our health and drug policy. What is the potential for religion to serve as a constructive and a destructive force in the Court, in our discourse, and in psychedelic use?

  • Moderator: Peter Smith, Associated Press

  • Mason Marks, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School

  • Cathleen Kaveny, Boston College

  • Asma Uddin, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

  • Bruce Ledewitz, Duquesne University School of Law

Reclaiming the Narrative: Faith Perspectives Supporting Abortion Access sponsored by Catholics for Choice
Contrary to the prevailing media narrative, the majority of people of faith actually support abortion rights – not in spite of their faith, but because of it. Hear from leading pro-choice faith voices, learn the theology and data behind their beliefs, and understand the importance of amplifying pro-choice faith perspectives for balanced abortion reporting.

  • Jamie L. Manson, Catholics for Choice

  • Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Middle Collegiate Church

  • Maggie Siddiqi, Center for American Progress Faith Initiative

  • Annie Lewis, Shaare Torah Congregation

  • Jennifer Villavicencio, Catholics for Choice

Lunch: Bridging Divides to Expand Protections sponsored by 1st Amendment Partnership
Religious Americans and LGBTQ Americans are often posited as being in opposing camps. But across the country, these groups are coming together to try to pass legislation that protects the LGBTQ community while also respecting religious rights protected under the First Amendment. Hear from advocates who hope to pass federal nondiscrimination legislation before the 2022 midterm elections.

Climate Refugees
This panel will bring together voices from communities, with a particular focus on Native Americans, experiencing the brunt of climate change's drought, flooding, and rising temperatures. A spirituality that is deeply connected to sacred ground is being threatened by the need to relocate to survive. Rather than feature voices of communities providing aid, as we have done in previous years, this panel will focus directly on the voices of environmental migrants, perhaps communities that have already been forced to relocate.  

  • Moderator: Luis Andres Henao, Associated Press

  • Theresa Dardar, Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe

  • Elizabeth Crocker, Center for Public Engagement with Science & Technology at the American Association for the Advancement of Science

  • Rev. Fletcher Harper, GreenFaith

The Data Game
This panel will focus on the basics of data journalism, from defining what it is to having participants explain how they are enriching their stories with these tools.  How has making connections across databases and using programming to gather and combine information changed the way they work? I'm hoping that participants will also give us tips on how those of us who aren't fluent in programs like R can start to learn to do it ourselves. I see this as the beginning of a conversation about this fast-evolving field.

  • Moderator: Natalie Jackson, Public Religion Research Institute

  • Julie Zauzmer Wiel, Washington Post

  • LaTrina Antoine, DC Witness

  • Liam Adams, The Tennessean

Data release sponsored by the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding
This data presentation by Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), will help attendees go beyond the soundbite by providing a dive into insightful research and usable information about American Muslims, as well as best practices for reporting. As the only applied research institute dedicated to sharing and conducting research on issues impacting American Muslims, ISPU is committed to amplifying existing research and expertise to a wider audience of journalists to improve their efforts to accurately report on this often-misunderstood community.

Dinner sponsored by Becket Law

Saturday, March 26

Breakfast conversation: Religion, War and Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine can't be understood apart from the religious history and grievances of the two nations. This panel explores the religious context of Ukraine, a country of diverse faith traditions that was already the epicenter of a worldwide split in Eastern Orthodoxy and where many sought religious as well as political independence from Moscow.

  • Moderator: Simran Jeet Singh, Aspen Institute

  • Peter Smith, Associated Press

  • Meagan Clark, Religion Unplugged

  • Susan Hayward, Harvard Divinity School

Solidarity at the Intersection of Race & Faith
This panel will explore the role of faith and faith leaders in building solidarity between communities. It will seek to explore several questions: What are the challenges faith leaders face when it comes to building trust beyond "allyship" and interfaith dialog? What are the types of common issues can communities of color gather around? How does the issue of race complicate these conversations?

  • Moderator: Deepa Bharath, Associated Press

  • Hyepin Im, Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE)

  • Mark Whitlock, Reid Temple AME Church

  • Naeem Baig, Islamic Circle of North America

  • Yolanda Savage-Narva, Union for Reform Judaism

Curation Without Representation
In recent years, the District's already-unparalleled cultural institutions have focused increasingly on the intersection of religion and culture. That's happened in a noteworthy way at the Smithsonian, which now has at least three curators dedicated specifically to religion, and with the emergence of Museum of the Bible just off the National Mall; Washington's cultural landscape has a distinctly more pronounced religious flavor. And more looms on the horizon, including a Jewish museum and a museum of American religion. This panel brings reporters up-to-speed on these and other developments and probes what they mean for our nation.

  • Moderator: Menachem Wecker, freelance journalist

  • Jeffrey Kloha, Museum of the Bible

  • Colleen Prior, National Museum of American Religion

  • Teddy Reeves, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

  • Rebekah Sobel, Captial Jewish Museum

Boxed lunch pickup

Washington National Cathedral tour & talk

RNA members meeting

Closing celebration sponsored by Religion News Foundation