This guide offers reporters the tools to navigate the topic of religious persecution at home and abroad, offering background, resources, tips, suggestions and expert sources for your next story.

As we do every year, this edition looks ahead to the religion stories we think are likely to shape coverage in 2026, offering context, reporting angles and expert perspectives to help journalists anticipate how faith trends will continue to enter the frame.

The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims and other religious groups.

Katie Corcoran is a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. She can discuss religion, religious persecution, organizations, criminology, social movements and social networks. She is co-author of Religious Hostility: A Global Assessment of Hatred and Terror and is working on a book about megachurches.