“And given that the conservative establishment portrays The New York Times as the embodiment of all that’s wrong with elite media culture, critics and watchdog sites regularly blast the NYT for bias and even ignorance. Is The New York Times really ignorant about matters of faith?”

This question arises from time to time, as when an Easter article in 2014 mentioned the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem as the spot where Christians believe Jesus’ body is buried. (I’m not an expert on where Jesus’ molecules are, but most Christians do not believe they are in a Jerusalem tomb.)

And given that the conservative establishment portrays The New York Times as the embodiment of all that’s wrong with elite media culture, critics and watchdog sites regularly blast the NYT for bias and even ignorance.

Is The New York Times really ignorant about matters of faith?

The two conservative op-ed columnists, Ross Douthat and David Brooks, regularly show their awareness of how religion influences the lives of American people and institutions. Another thoughtful conservative, Peter Wehner of the Ethics & Public Policy Center, has been especially good during the 2016 election campaign, chiding Republicans for their acquiescence to Trump-ism.

On the liberal side, the Newspaper of Record’s record is not quite as solid. In my view, the NYT’s progressive columnists are not as attuned to the role of faith in public life. Nick Kristof is an exception, but by now his trope of “Hey liberals, there are some evangelicals doing really great work in the world,” while perhaps still needed, has become a little too rote and predictable. Frank Bruni sharply and rightly criticizes the excesses of the Religious Right, but in my view makes little attempt to understand or engage people of faith who believe that marriage is a man and a woman.

Occasional op-ed contributions from sociologist Tanya Luhrmann and historian Molly Worthen offer more sympathetic, nuanced portrayals of religion in American life.

But when the NYT’s Executive Editor confesses, “We don’t get religion,” as he did last month, it’s worth revisiting the question.

Dean Baquet said on NPR, “I think that the New York-based and Washington-based too probably, media powerhouses don’t quite get religion…We have a fabulous religion writer, but she’s all alone…We don’t get the role of religion in people’s lives.

This was a pretty stunning admission, offered in the context of elite media failing to understand the appeal of Donald Trump.

Dean Baquet may not “get” religion, but he shouldn’t throw his colleagues under the bus.

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