In early May, religion reporters around the world are preparing stories on Eid al-Fitr, the closing festival of Ramadan. Reporting from his home in Algeria, Larbi Megari describes both the optimism and the anxieties common in Muslim communities as families experience their second Ramadan during the COVID pandemic.

Watch the eighth in our global series of dialogues—in Arabic. Do you have suggestions for our planning team about future dialogues? Click on the “Contact” link in the upper-right corner of our front page and send us a note.

Two of the IARJ’s top journalists report on a wide range of research that suggests active involvement in religion promotes health and well being. They collaborated on this Global Plus column, which was sponsored by the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), a leading association of university scholars who study religion.

U.S.-based religion writer Niraj Warikoo dialogues with Algeria-based journalist Larbi Megari, one of the long-time leaders of the IARJ, about story ideas that they hope will spark the attention of their colleagues in 2020.

IARJ’s Co-Managing Director Larbi Megari—who was also named the IARJ’s representative for North Africa and Middle East in 2018—reports in the Global Plus series about building friendships across religious lines. He especially explores issues of building social trust and civility between Muslims and non-Muslims. And, at the end of his column, Larbi adds a list of links to additional resources that will be valuable for journalists reporting on these issues.

IARJ members and guests share images from the International Association of Religion Journalists’ 2017 global conference in Jakarta, Indonesia.

IARJ contributing editor Larbi Megari reports on the opening of the 2017 global conference of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ). Gathering in Jakarta, Indonesia, the IARJ is working toward one of its founding missions: holding annual gatherings on all of the world’s major continents. In Jakarta, participants are discussing the enormous challenges journalists are facing today—and the IARJ is planning for its future outreach.

This series of occasional news items, IARJ @ Work, highlights the many ways our members are active around the world. In this item, India’s Bhavya Srivastava describes his participation in the KAICIID Center’s global Advisory Forum in Vienna.

Across the world, billions of worshippers this weekend will be going to mosques, temples, churches and other places of worship hearing messages declaring that the choices they make in this life can affect their eternal destiny. How each of them, and secular individuals, face the great existential question of the meaning of life in the face of mortality can make a major difference in areas from mental health to preventing terrorism and promoting more generous, compassionate societies less likely to experience civil strife, new research shows.

IARJ Co-managing Director Larbi Megari reports on the Africa-wide conference for journalists and scholars recently held in Ghana, including some of the emerging challenges: How to connect more effectively with scholars studying religious trends; how to deal with forces that seem to work against accurate coverage of religious diversity; and the challenge of finding more effective professional networks with colleagues.