Top faith-related news stories of 2011

Faith and presidential politics, especially as it relates to Mitt Romney and Mormonism, was the top faith-related news story of 2011, according to a new analysis released today by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) and the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. "Overall, religion accounted for 0.7 percent of all mainstream media coverage studied in 2011, down from 2.0 percent in 2010," Pew officials said in a news release. "In the 52 news outlets monitored throughout the year, including the evening TV news programs, newspaper front pages, top cable news programs, top news websites and top radio programs, religion received about as much coverage as race/gender/gay issues (0.8 percent) and immigration (0.7 percent)." Read: When journalists cover religion While presidential politics was the top faith story of 2011, six of the top 10 stories had to do with Islam. Here's the top 10: