Ethics In Communications |
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To review books by the John Paul II, click on the blue.
We recommend
Crossing the
Threshold of Hope, ($12.00) or about him--His Holiness:
John Paul II, & the Hidden History...
(by Carl Bernstein &
Marco Politi--$19.25). |
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In the world of journalism
this is a time of profound changes. The proliferation of new technologies
is affecting every area by now and, to a greater or lesser degree,
involves every human being. Globalization
has increased the powers of the media, but has also made them more liable
to ideological and commercial pressures. This should prompt you
journalists to ask yourselves about the meaning of your vocation as
committed Christians in the world of communications. St Paul and St Peter were the great "communicators" of faith at the dawn of Christianity. May their memory remind you of the specific vocation which distinguishes you as followers of Christ in the world of social communications: you are called to devote your professionalism to the service of the moral and spiritual good of individuals and of the human community. This is the crux of the ethical question, which is inseparable from your work. Journalism, with its immense and direct influence on public opinion, cannot be guided by economic forces, profit and partisan interests alone. Instead, it must be regarded in a certain sense as a "sacred" task, to be carried out with the awareness that the powerful means of communication are entrusted to you for the common good and, in particular, for the good of society's weakest groups: from children to the poor, from the sick to those who are marginalized or discriminated against. One cannot write or broadcast only with a view to audience share, to the prejudice of truly educational services. Nor can one make an indiscriminate appeal to the right to information without taking other personal rights into account. No freedom, including freedom of expression, is absolute: it is limited, in fact, by its duty to respect the dignity and legitimate freedom of others. Nothing, however fascinating, can be written, produced or broadcast to the detriment of the truth: I am thinking here not only of the truth of the facts you report, but also of the "truth about man", of the dignity of the human person in all his dimensions. As a sign of the Church's desire to be close to you as you meet this great challenge, a few days ago the Pontifical Council for Social Communications published the document Ethics in Communications. It is a warm invitation to journalists to commit to serving the human person by building a society based on solidarity, justice and love, through the communication of the truth about human life and its final fulfillment in God. The Church and the media must walk together in their service to the human family. I therefore ask the Lord to grant that you may leave this Jubilee celebration with the conviction that it is possible to be both authentic Christians and excellent journalists. The world of the media needs men and women who strive day after day to live this twofold dimension of service of the moral and spiritual good as best they can. This will happen more and more, if you can keep your gaze fixed on the One who is the center of this Jubilee year, Jesus Christ, "the faithful witness ... who is and who was and who is to come." This should prompt you journalists to ask yourselves about the meaning of your vocation as committed Christians in the world of communications. Condensed from L’Osservatore Romano at www.vatican.va |
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Read other articles in the July 2000 edition of The San Francisco