Lambeth Coverage Evaluation

The plan for Lambeth was clear: no legislation and limited media access to the gathered bishops. What was to be a tightly controlled conference turned into something more free flowing thanks to several bishops who wandered outside the official channels to offer their viewpoints directly to the media.

Reporters learned that there was a way to find a story and it was outside the press room. Of course, this is generally the best way, but the Lambeth organizers did their best to shut down this kind of access. One of the best at finding the story was Hans Zeiger of VirtueOnline. Zeiger was able to file a number of reports based on these impromtu meetings. Ruth Gledhill of The Times of London was tops in finding the stories.

Fr. Matt Kennedy's work in live blogging the press conferences was as always exceptional. His ability to do this is as close to a live feed as any of us can hope for. For many of the other amateurs who showed up at Lambeth to be reporters, I hope they paid their own way.

On the whole, we can be thankful for the internet that gave us all access to Lambeth in a timely fashion, no matter where we live. From the British press to the various Anglican websites and blogs, information flow was often steady and always diverse. The analysis that was offered was not always good, but the horizon of viewpoints was as wide as the eye can see. Between the official statements and those made by individual bishops, lobby groups like Integrity and those made by bloggers, there was plenty to read and digest. Sometimes too much.

All in all, Lambeth was underwhelming in dealing with the crisis within Anglicanism, but thanks to the extensive coverage we did have what amounted to a front row seat.