I think the subtle (or not so subtle) change in words is a way to accentuate a message: ie. evangelicals are extreme just as terrorists are extreme.  To soften the word terrorist, the media (Reuters , the AP) always refers to terrorists as insurgents (implying they are mere freedom fighters).
It is a move to lump all extremists in one bin.
Evangelicals are defined by the media as extreme religious nuts.  You will notice in any interviews, the media looks for fringe people to prove their point that EVANGELICALS are similar to satan worshippers or terrorists....uniformed , superstitous people to be feared.
 
If you think about the people reporting...you can detect a mocking attitude concerning anything to do with Christianity. (the only media folks I know who are born again are Tony Snow and Brit Hume)
The SHOCK of the election result internals...(morals matter, character matters) shocked the media in general.  They can't understand why that is a consideration. But, the good news is that millions of people do not take the mainline media very seriously anymore.  They certainly exposed themselves this year with a concerted effort to report biased stories to further their agenda.  The stupid "evangelicals" and the "stupid" President....were not so stupid.