Peter Steinfels' bittersweet reflection on his two decades as "Beliefs" columnist at the New York Times is better at begging questions than evoking nostalgia. Does the nation's paper of record have plans to replace the cerebral, institutionally oriented Steinfels with someone who can see religiosity in less conventional ways and in less conventional places? Or will the Times bank the money it saves and thereby succumb to one of the most dismaying trends in our unmoored profession? At a time when religious movements are more deeply connected to urgent social developments and less closely identified with traditional institutions, the very news organizations that should be helping us untangle these knots are doing a poorer job of covering religion.

Two recent stories stand out because they highlight the close connection between religiosity and issues like globalization and the struggles of economically marginalized communities. And because stories about religion so rarely make these connections (or rarely make them so well), both are worth noting.

In the Louisville Courier-Journal, Peter Smith writes about how home-grown churches and other religious organizations in eastern Kentucky are grappling with the relationship between climate change and the coal-mining industry that sustains the region's fragile economy. Smith's story suggestively outlines local theological differences that reflect much larger global tensions between economic development and some of the liabilities of the free-market. Similar issues—as well as Western anxieties about the spread of Islam—figure into a Radio Netherlands piece on the growth of Muslim converts among the indigenous population in Chiapas, Mexico.

Teasing out the threads that mutually entwine American Christianity and American-style capitalism may sound like a tall order, but Smith's article shows that good on-the-ground reporting gets the job done well. Jan-Albert Hootsen's legwork in Chiapas is just as effective at showing us how the big picture can be captured in a small story, and it also points toward why American news media fall short in their calling to serve the public interest by failing to report on religion effectively.

The Islam-in-Chiapas story has been around for a decade, but most of the coverage has come from journalists in Europe, where the growth of Muslim populations beyond the Arab world and Southeast Asia is a local story. But the appeal of certain strands of Islam for communities who have reason to feel resentment toward the colonial impulse in Christianity as well as the inequities spawned by "the religion of the market" should be a local story wherever there's a gas station or a big-box store.

It would be nice to think that the Times will use its "Beliefs" real estate for stories that probe for religiosity in novel forms of social organization and that link religion to other trends and movements in ways that deepen our understanding of interconnected issues. Simply closing or repurposing the space it has devoted to a religion column wouldn't just be a lost opportunity for the Times—it would also likely be a sign that legacy media won't regain their footing and sense of purpose any time soon.

Nick Street recently completed an M.A. in print journalism at the University of Southern California. His writing on religion, media, science and culture has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, the Jewish Journal, Search and the Revealer. He has been a contributing editor for religion and sexuality with Religion Dispatches.