John Longhurst, a religion reporter with Canadian Affairs, was named a member of the Order of Canada in December.
Longhurst joins more than 8,000 Canadians who have received the country’s highest civilian honour. He was recognized for his efforts “to promote positive interdenominational relations, to reduce hate and to help readers see the humanity in every person,” the Governor General’s announcement says.
Longhurst spoke to reporter Meagan Gillmore about his career and why he thinks religion is a part of almost every story.
MG: Congratulations on being named to the Order of Canada.
JH: When I look at a list of people who have been appointed, I see folks who are curing diseases and captains of industry and Olympic athletes, and I think, ‘How can I be in that company since all I do is write words?’ But I’m honored to have been selected.
MG: When did you first get interested in religion journalism?
JL: I started my career in church-related journalism in the denomination I was a member of at that time. I then went into international relief and development work on the communication side. … I quickly discovered that one of the best ways to engage people was through the media that they used.
Second, I realized that most journalists knew very little about religion. I found myself doing a lot of explaining to journalists about the religious motivations for doing international relief and development work.
I also in the mid- to late-90s founded and organized Canada’s first faith and media conference. We had 250 people gathered there to talk about religion in the media. That world seems like ancient times now. Then, most Canadian newspapers had a faith page, and many had a faith beat with a reporter assigned to that beat. … Today, I am the only religion reporter in Canada in the mainstream media, and the [Winnipeg] Free Press is the only newspaper that still has a faith page on Saturdays. I’ve been a faith page columnist with them since 2003. …
In 2018, the publisher and editor of the [Winnipeg] Free Press announced that they wanted to do a better job of engaging communities within Winnipeg. I told them, one community you’re not engaging very well is the faith community. They said they would like to do it, but they didn’t have any money. I said, ‘What if I go out and raise it?’ That’s what I do. I’ve been doing the same thing with Canadian Affairs. We raised some money to support the religion reporting.
MG: Why do you think there is that decline in religion reporting in Canada?
JL: It’s tempting to think it’s because the media is so secular and they don’t like religion. But that’s not the case. It’s just in line with the general downturn in revenues for the media. In the early 2000s when the big decline began, the media began to cut what they considered to be the ‘soft’ beats: chess, book reviews, religion. They just don’t have the bandwidth or resources, which is why I needed to go outside and raise the money to make this possible.
MG: Why do you think faith is not a ‘soft’ beat?
JL: Even though attendance at religious services is declining, even though the fastest growing ‘religion’ in Canada is ‘the nones’ — those who have no affiliation — millions of Canadians still are spiritual, attend religious services. Maybe not as frequently as they used to, but they still feel an affinity towards a religious grouping or identify in a religious way.
It’s also really important because of newcomers and immigration. People who come to this country from other countries tend to be very religious. … If you’re going to understand the newcomer experience, you need to understand something about their religious experience.
You can’t turn around without bumping into the religion angle in almost any story. You can’t tell the story about food banks without telling the story of all the churches and mosques and temples and synagogues which have food banks in their basements or annexes. You can’t tell the story of how Canadians are responding to the homelessness crisis without talking about [Christian homeless shelters].
Activism of different kinds — protests against war — there’s usually a church group or some other religious group that’s behind these things or involved.
These are the things that you just need to know if you’re going to tell the story of Canada in the 21st century. It’s not like it was 50 years ago, obviously. But still, for tens of millions of Canadians, spirituality and religion continue to be important.
When those people look at the news, they don’t tend to see themselves reflected there. If they do see themselves there, it’s usually in a negative way: another priest involved in a scandal, or evangelicals voting for President Donald Trump.
They don’t see their normal daily lives reflected in the news, which is one of the goals of the work I do. If there’s negative news to report, I’ll report it. But that’s not the only news. I do stories just about what’s happening in each of the faith communities.
MG: In your view, what are some common gaps in journalists’ understanding of religion?
JL: Some of them are just simple and obvious: the major holidays that are important to different religious groups. It could be as simple as knowing why a male journalist cannot speak alone to a female Muslim.
A general assignment reporter can’t know everything about everything. But the quality of your interview with someone increases exponentially if they realize that you know something about who they are.
MG: How has your personal life and your professional life interacted?
JL: Since Oct. 7, 2023, it’s made my job much harder. Tensions in the Jewish and Muslim communities … that’s been really hard. Interfaith relations in Winnipeg and across the country have taken a real hit since then. Some really awful and terrible things have been said to me from both sides. That said, I’m also glad to be able to say that I continue to have good and positive relations in both communities.
MG: Has your faith changed over these years?
JL: I’m more broadly accepting. I’m more generous in my outlook towards all these people who, like me, are motivated by a deep commitment to their faith, no matter what faith that would be. I’m reminded constantly that every major religion has some form of what Christians call the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. That would be a great way for us to live together, if we could.
I’ve made so many good friends, and at the same time, heard so many challenging stories. I’ve spoken to people who lost relatives on the Jewish side and the Palestinian side in this war. I’ve spoken to Bahais who have relatives who have been killed or who are imprisoned in Iran. I’ve spoken to Jehovah’s Witnesses who escaped persecution in Russia. I’ve had a chance to interview probably 10 to 12 Holocaust survivors, most of whom aren’t alive anymore. Generous and wide is how my faith has grown and increased as I’ve met all these wonderful people and been invited even for just a tiny bit into their lives.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
