Religion reporting is more complicated than ever because of the vast amount of information available to reporters through experts, Web sites, polls, books, advocacy groups, public relations agencies, research reports and more. Most of this information is instantly accessible through the Internet, but not all of it is reliable. What’s more, faith groups have gotten more sophisticated about pushing their interests, so reporters often end up with conflicting information.

Here are our best tips on statistics, experts, Web sites and books, but information is constantly changing. The Religion Newswriters’ Resource Library posts a wide variety of Web resources, including the Internet’s most extensive list of links to religious media. The affiliated RNA sites include a daily roundup of headlines and a Religion Stylebook.