Diane Winston: From Red-Hot Salvationists to Reagan Righting of America: How Journalism Contributes to Scholarship

Why do many journalists have problems reporting on religion and what can scholars do to help them? Winston's talk will draw from her experience as a religion reporter and a scholar of American religion to discuss moving between roles for the benefit of public scholarship. In addition to discussing her career, she will her new book and its goal of making religion and the news central to the study of American history.

Diane Winston holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the University of Southern California. A former religion reporter, Winston returned to school and earned a PhD in Religion at Princeton University. Afterwards, she worked at the Pew Foundation as a program officer in religion before decamping to Los Angeles. At USC, she teaches courses on American religious history, narrative non-fiction, and coverage of religion, politics and culture internationally. Her edited collections are on American news and religion, religion in television dramas and in reality TV, and Los Angeles as an incubator for religious innovation. In addition to Righting the American Dream, she is the author of Red Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army.

https://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/diane-winston