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Bishops Discuss Role of Catholic Media
By Julie Asher
Catholic media's basic role is to keep Catholics informed about local and global events in the church and help them "deepen their understanding of their faith and how it is lived in the world," said Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles during a June 3 session at the 2010 Catholic Media Convention in New Orleans.
He spoke during a preparatory session for a discussion between bishops and Catholic media professionals the next day.
The overall theme of the discussion was: "What does it mean to be a faithful Catholic media organization in the 21st century?"
The bishops and the Catholic Church as a whole expect a faithful Catholic media to "work from a Catholic perspective," have staff with theological training, have "a distinctly Catholic voice" and report the truth "with an eye to how that reporting can best serve the church"— without engaging "purely in apologetics," Bishop Zavala said.
And, he said, media organizations themselves rightly have expectations of the U.S. bishops and their diocesan offices.
Bishops and diocesan officials must view the Catholic media "as collaborators, not outsiders," he said. They must give the Catholic journalists access to people and information "that you need to get your questions answered when you are working on a story," and respond quickly to Catholic media requests, especially on deadline, he said.
"The world of media moves at an incredible speed and we bishops need to recognize that," Bishop Zavala said. "Providing a response to your request after your deadline is often of little help, so we must learn to respond quickly."
In the current economic climate for dioceses, bishops unfortunately cannot provide more financial help to Catholic media, he said, but it is "essential that we strengthen our collaboration -- good collaboration requires efforts on both sides."
Among questions on the agenda for the bishops and the media professionals to discuss were: how Catholic media in North American can best serve Catholics; how Catholic media can maintain their journalistic integrity when many of those working in the field might see themselves as also having a vocation serving the church; what it means to be "a universal church in a global communication environment"; and when an organization ceases being a Catholic news organization.
The bishops are looking for a meaningful exchange of ideas with Catholic media professionals, not a "one-size-fits-all" answer, Bishop Zavala said June 3.
Faithful Catholic media outlets are "not like the secular media," which are "often competitive and can have little regard for the damage done to people's lives. There is a tendency to be mean-spirited and engage in personal attacks," he said.
"Many times the secular media present only a superficial rendering of a story, often choosing what is sensationalist over in-depth reporting," he said.
"While I think we can all agree that we do not want to see any of these qualities in our own publications, programs or websites, I think we have to admit that at times they are present," he said.
On the other hand, Catholic media should not operate at the other extreme and "engage in apologetics to defend bishops at all costs. That is too simplistic and does not respect the intelligence of Catholics in North America," Bishop Zavala said.
Catholic media organizations also should not present themselves "as speaking for the magisterium," the bishop said. "Only the magisterium can speak for the magisterium."
The Catholic media already do a great job of reporting the "many wonderful stories in our large, diverse church, stories that only the Catholic media can cover," he said.
The Catholic press also has to report on the abuse scandal and "other difficult and divisive stories," he said.
"We cannot be afraid to name the truth of what is happening," he said. "Our Catholic people are intelligent and they want and appreciate getting the 'straight scoop.'"
In approaching difficult stories, the Catholic media must first "adopt a basic principle of 'speak the truth in love,'" he said. "There also has to be a place for mercy....This is something Catholic media can teach the secular media."
Catholic media can help educate bishops "about how best to engage with media organizations.
"I know we are not always the best students in this area, but we need your input and guidance," he said.
Bishop Zavala said bishops have a key role in improving the church's relationship with secular media, but Catholic journalists also can help their secular counterparts better understand the church "in hopes they will be able to more accurately report on it."
