Newspapers and a daily prayer

One of the more unique features of The Indianapolis Star (unique for a Californian like me anyway) was the daily prayer in the newspaper. A tradition that went back decades, The Star had a one-sentence generic prayer on page 2 in each edition, written by a Presbyterian minister who was paid $20 a week.

The paper also features a bible quote in its flag: ” ‘Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty’ II Cor. 3.17.”

Click to enlarge.

At the end of 2008, the newspaper decided to stop printing the page 2 prayer as it made other changes to the newspaper (folding Business into the A section, moving the TV listings, etc.). Cutting the prayer triggered a firestorm of reader protest, from upset readers who made the prayer part of a daily routine to others crying out at the undeniable evidence of liberal media bias.

Returning from break…

This blog has been on a bit of haitus since my winter break at school began, but I’m back at schoool so I’ll be back to the blog, too. Look for a couple of new posts in the days and weeks ahead about the second half of J-school, an interesting battle over a tiny bit of newsprint, and some personal news.