MEDIA SCOPE: The popular media can't handle religion. It's vast and complicated and means something different to every person. It's hard to make religious subjects entertaining without simplification and drama - the real point of  spirituality can be lost in the process.

Current coverage of the Catholic Church in Ireland is focused on sex scandals, debates around abortion and sexuality and other buzzing topics that may have little to do with people's everyday faith.

No religion has received worse treatment at the hands of popular western media than Islam. The word has become synonymous with violence, terrorism and extremism. In the last year, we have all become experts on the more controversial passages of the Koran and the most extreme views of fundamentalist Muslims, but we're not a great deal wiser about Islam as it is practiced daily by millions of people across the world.

As Jeff Cohen of the United States organisation Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting points out, we are quite comfortable with the phrase "Islamic violence". "We would know better than to speak of 'Christian violence' or 'Jewish violence'. After the Oklahoma City federal building was bombed, the New York Times speculated on possible Islamic culprits in part because "the city is home to at least three mosques."