Your GetReligionistas received an interesting note this week (via our comments pages) that reminded me that I haven’t offered an update on how things are going one month into GetReligion 4.0.

GetReligion 4.0? Well, GetReligion 1.0 was quite small, with me and co-founder Doug LeBlanc striving to get one or two items online day after day while doing other jobs. Then, in 2.0, I did the blog part-time for a decade while leading the Washington Journalism Center — with contributions from a wonderful pack of scribes, such as Daniel Pulliam, Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans, M.Z. Hemingway, Sarah Pulliam Bailey, George Conger and others. The 3.0 version just ended, with me blogging and editing full-time with the members of the current gang contributing throughout the week.

With 4.0, I’m part-time, again and we’re part of the First Amendment work at the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi. The site has downsized a bit and we do need financial support from readers. We also share some content with the online magazine Religion UnPlugged.

Now, the following letter from reader Mark Gammon came in response to a recent piece by Catholic-news specialist Clemente Lisi that ran with this headline: “HBO's 'The New Pope' serves up lots of sinful sizzle, but no substance worth discussing.” Here is what Gammon had to say:

Oh no. Is this what this website is going to be now? I always appreciated reading about the press’ blind spots or unconscious hostility toward religion. As a theologian, I found it a valuable service.

This piece, on the other hand, is just whining about a TV show. One might note that The Young Pope saw its initial weirdness and satire evolve into something spiritually complex and interesting. Viello turned out to be a fascinating character of some depth (which has continued in this new series). Pious XIII sent a meek, celibate, gay alcoholic priest to investigate a powerful child abuser — successfully — giving insight into how Christ can invert power structures.

From this site, I have come to expect thinking, not lazy reactionary mewling about a satirical piece of art.

The obvious question: What was a commentary about an HBO series doing on GetReligion?

I guess it was on this website for the same reason that there are cartoons, reviews and satire pieces in mainstream newspapers. There are times, you see, when the news looks like entertainment and entertainment shows contain material that the public takes more seriously than it does the mainstream news.

We’re not just talking about America’s reality-TV White House. And we’re not just talking about the role that Saturday Night Live and Comedy Central have played in American public discourse for decades. What percentage of American voters still think that Sarah Palin said that she could see Russia from her house in Alaska?

What does this have to do with HBO and the papacy? Quite a bit, to be honest. As Lisi noted at the very top of the piece in question:

There is often a Hollywood fascination with all that’s morbid about religion. This has traditionally included a profane approach when it comes to the Catholic church — dramatizing reality into what can sometimes be an ugly trope.

This is exactly what we get with HBO’s new TV mini-series The New Pope. As is often the case, it’s also easy to see this entertainment as a form of semi-journalistic commentary about the state of the church.

As always, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights spoke up: “We have been tracking what The New York Times and The Washington Post have been saying about the Catholic Church for decades, and it will shock no one to learn that they are not exactly our biggest fans. More proof was offered today with the reviews of the first episode of ‘The New Pope.’ What they said tells us as much about them as it does HBO, another media outlet that likes to stick it to the Church.”

Donohue was being Donohue, but he has a point.

In the once hip and now mainstream HBO demographic, which form of media has the most impact on emotions and opinions — hard-news reports or entertainment that riffs on themes found in the real world? Would anyone be shocked to see “Game of Papal Thrones”? Would Acela-zone newsrooms cheer for that?

So, to address Gammon’s valid point: No, your GetReligionistas are not going to feature commentary on entertainment as much as we do the news. But don’t be surprised if, every now and then, we comment on entertainment offerings that veer into territory that overlaps with the news. That’s the world in which we live, these days — like it or not.

Now, in other GetReligion 4.0 news, please note this upcoming program at Ole Miss:

Tuesday, February 18, 5:30 p.m.
The Intersection of Religion & Politics

Two nationally known journalists will discuss religion and the 2020 presidential election with Charles Overby, chairman of the Overby Center. Terry Mattingly, an Overby fellow and editor of the daily blog GetReligion, and Richard Ostling, former religion writer for The Associated Press and former senior correspondent for Time Magazine, have written extensively about religion.

Overby Center programs often end up on YouTube (like this one). This will be the first GetReligion-linked event at Ole Miss and there will be more. We will keep you posted about it’s online status.