Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” meets readers at the intersection of faith and news. Click to join nearly 10,000 subscribers who get this column delivered straight to their inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr.
By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged
ARLINGTON, Va. — I’m hanging out this week with 169 of my closest Godbeat friends.
The Religion News Association kicked off its annual three-day meeting Thursday at the Hilton Arlington National Landing, just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital.
In case you’re not familiar with it, RNA is “the premier professional organization for people who report on religion in the news media.”
The opening panel focused on “The Do’s, Don’ts, and Dangers of AI,” and honestly, my Otter.ai transcription service’s summary of that discussion freaks me out a little bit.
Otter’s overview isn’t perfect. It refers, for example, to panelist Napp Nazworth — who has a Ph.D. and serves as executive director of the American Values Coalition — as “Dr. Network.”
Still, the computer-generated recap of the 45-minute exchange is close.
Eerily so.
Moving from technology to storytelling — which I pray remains the purview of humans with real hearts and souls — I was honored to moderate a panel on “Religion Reporting in Small Markets.”
This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.
Featured photo by Kit Doyle
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 