One of the basic principles of journalism, taught to every baby reporter, is that you need to get both sides of the story. But everyone who has spent even a few months at a small newspaper also knows that sometimes, one side won’t talk to you; sometimes, one side is blatantly lying; and sometimes (a lot of times), there are more than two sides. It’s a good principle, but the best reporting uncovers additional layers of complication.
The news team at Christianity Today is often drawn to one particular layer: when one side of an argument is arguing with itself. You can see that today in national political reporter Harvest Prude’s piece about pro-life disagreements over Donald Trump’s latest statements on abortion. We’ve covered similar internal conflict in previous elections too. It’s not pro-life versus pro-choice, but pro-life versus pro-life.
The issues at stake in the debate are really important. It’s also more than just a story of division. It’s a story that shows how complicated pro-life politics can be. At CT, we want to tell stories about people trying to be faithful. And we want to give an account of how tricky and challenging and complicated it can be to try to be faithful.
That’s one reason we work so hard to bring you “both sides of the story,” even when that’s two sides of the one side of an argument.
