JACKSON, Tenn. — Feb. 15, 2002 — Talking about faith can be challenging. Talking about faith in front of 50 million viewers every night can be terrifying, but not so for Peggy Wehmeyer. Until recently, the first national religion correspondent for a major news network had consistently blazed a trail in religious news for more than 20 years, bringing informative and objective news coverage to religious and faith-based stories.
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Peggy Wehmeyer will speak at the Fourth Annual Union Forum on February 22, 2002 in the Coburn Dining Room of the Barefoot Student Union Building at 11:45 a.m. |
Citing budget cutbacks, the network informed Wehmeyer this summer that the religion beat she covered was being eliminated and her contract, up in October, would not be renewed.
While Wehmeyer admitted in a phone interview with Baptist Press that she is enjoying the extra time at home in Dallas being with her husband and their two daughters, she thinks it is unfortunate that there is no religion beat with the national networks.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lack of diversity when it comes to religious belief and ideology, particularly in the newsrooms of the northeast and in national news, which has an impact on the coverage of religion,鈥� said Wehmeyer. 鈥淎s much attention as the media gives to make sure that there鈥檚 representation and diversity in the area of race, gender, and even sexual orientation, I think it鈥檚 time for the media to pay attention to ideological diversity, especially when it comes to religion.鈥�
It is that strong conviction for coverage of faith-based stories that was the kindling for Wehmeyer鈥檚 career.
Growing up in a home with a secular Jewish mother and a father who was a 鈥渟ometimes-practicing鈥� Christian Scientist, Wehmeyer didn鈥檛 understand a lot about God until she attended the University of Texas at Austin as a college student. Through her involvement with Campus Crusade there on campus, Wehmeyer began studying the Bible and eventually became a Christian.
Her new found faith answered a lot of questions for her about the purpose and meaning of life, Wehmeyer said, and also helped shape her future career choice 鈥� journalism.
鈥淛ournalism just seemed to maximize my strengths and minimize my weaknesses,鈥� said Wehmeyer. 鈥淎nd it was such a great fit for my new faith, which is about exposing the truth for light, fairness, and honesty 鈥� all the tenets of journalism and reporting.
鈥淢y own faith had changed my life so much that I was very interested in spiritual things,鈥� said Wehmeyer. 鈥淭o me, journalism allowed me to have a job where I could speak the truth, do research, study and learn things and remain consistent with my faith practice.鈥�
After she started writing for her college newspaper, however, Wehmeyer began noticing the lack of coverage for stories on religion and faith, a disturbing trend that she continued to observe as a public information officer at Dallas Theological Seminary while she was taking classes. What was covered, she felt, was being distorted, and people of faith were being misrepresented and misunderstood by the media.
鈥淚 thought, wow, here鈥檚 an area that nobody鈥檚 covering and when it is covered, it鈥檚 not covered well,鈥� remembered Wehmeyer. 鈥淎nd I felt like with the gifts and skills I had, that this was a niche I could fill.鈥�
After persistent conversations with the news directors at WFAA-TV in Dallas, she was eventually allowed to report on the religious stories she was pitching, mainly because no one else would do them. Covering religious and social issues for the station for more than ten years, Wehmeyer鈥檚 thought-provoking and passionate reporting on stories of faith and human nature was soon noticed by ABC News. In 1994, she was hired as the first national religion correspondent in the history of a major network, and during her eight years there, she earned the respect and admiration of many Christians in America, landing several exclusives including the McCaughey septuplets.
Through the good times and bad, Wehmeyer says it is her faith and her relationship with God that have seen her through.
鈥淚 would say my faith was certainly challenged. In a job where you are interviewing leaders on both sides of major religious controversial issues like abortion or gay rights and you鈥檙e trying to be fair, there were times that my faith was rattled and challenged,鈥� admitted Wehmeyer. 鈥淏ut my faith was also strengthened as well and it helped keep everything in perspective and my priorities in order with my family and my marriage.鈥�
Wehmeyer said that though everyone told her she would miss being in the spotlight and would feel lost without the high profile job to which she had become accustomed, she found that the opposite has taken place.
鈥淚鈥檓 just as pleased being a stay-at-home mom as I was speaking to 50 million people in primetime. What makes me glad is that it tells me that I struggled to stay in touch with what really mattered and who I was apart from TV,鈥� explained Wehmeyer.
While she admits that the creative juices began to flow again when Heather Mercer and Dana Whitaker, American missionaries, were rescued in Afghanistan, she thinks that a year off sounds pretty good at this point.
鈥淭here are so many things that I鈥檝e wanted to do,鈥� said Wehmeyer. 鈥淔or me to be able to have done what I did and feel good about it, and now to get to be at home before my kids leave for college 鈥� it鈥檚 a wonderful gift.鈥�
Wehmeyer continues to stay active as a consultant and speaker and by using her gifts to continue to search for truth. After the September 11 attacks, she helped lead a forum on Islam at her church in Dallas, interviewing a local leader of a mosque, and using her skills to do a one-on-one in front of a large Sunday School class.
Now, more than ever, she says she鈥檚 aware that her relationship with God is the most important thing in life.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the one transcendent constant 鈥� whether you have a job or don鈥檛 have a job, whether you have a high profile career or whether you are a stay-at-home mom. When Christ is the center of your life, he is the anchor stabilizer for everything.鈥�