New global association aims to improve religion reporting

BELLAGIO, Italy - A new international journalism group has been formed to advance reporting on religion.

The International Association of Religion Journalists was founded by reporters from 23 countries during a meeting at The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy.

The group this week launched the English-language site theiarj.org to provide a range of resources, from statistics on religion in various countries to background on religious and ethnic conflicts.

Maria Lopez, senior religion writer at La Vanguardia, in Barcelona, Spain, said the goal is to help journalists write "with accuracy, fairness and balance" on a complex topic.

The International Center for Journalists and the Association of Religion Data Archives are partners in the project.

The religion reporting group plans next to launch a website in Arabic.