Religion News Service

==History==

RNS was founded in 1934 by journalist [[Louis Minsky]] as an affiliate of the [[National Conference of Christians and Jews]]. Everett R. Clinchy was the managing editor and co-founder.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dinnerstein |first1=Leonard |last2=Ross |first2=Robert W. |date=June 1981 |title=So It Was True: The American Protestant Press and the Nazi Persecution of the Jews |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=86 |issue=3 |page=94 |doi=10.2307/1860528 |jstor=1860528 |issn=0002-8762}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Blanchard |first=Margaret A. |title=History of the Mass Media in the United States : an Encyclopedia. |date=2013 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1-135-91742-5 |page=363 |oclc=866858198}}</ref>

RNS was acquired by the [[United Methodist Reporter]] in 1983, by [[Newhouse News Service]] in 1994, then by the Religion Newswriters Foundation in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://religionnews.com/about-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726190933/https://religionnews.com/about-2/ |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |access-date=2022-01-15 |website=Religion News Service |language=en-US}}</ref>

In April 2015, the [[Catholic News Agency]] published an article disclosing that RNS had received a grant of $120,000 from the [[Arcus Foundation]] with the stated intent “to recruit and equip LGBT supportive leaders and advocates to counter rejection and antagonism within traditionally conservative Christian churches”, also questioning if the grant had biased RNS's coverage of traditional religion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones, Kevin |date=April 1, 2015 |title=An Arcus news service? RNS denies LGBT money influences religion coverage |url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/an-arcus-news-service-rns-denies-lgbt-money-influences-religion-coverage-29061/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423151426/http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/an-arcus-news-service-rns-denies-lgbt-money-influences-religion-coverage-29061/ |archive-date=April 23, 2015 |access-date=April 19, 2015 |website=Catholic News Agency}}</ref> In response, RNS's then editor-in-chief Kevin Eckstrom said that the grant language is “Arcus’ description of their funding, not ours” and denied that the grant had any influence over editorial decisions at RNS.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Loughlin, Michael |date=April 8, 2015 |title=Religion News Service defends grant from gay-rights group |url=http://www.cruxnow.com/life/2015/04/08/religion-news-service-defends-grant-from-gay-rights-group/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416050909/http://www.cruxnow.com/life/2015/04/08/religion-news-service-defends-grant-from-gay-rights-group/ |archive-date=April 16, 2015 |access-date=April 19, 2015 |website=Crux}}</ref>