There is a fine line between journalism and public relations work, and those who cover the Vatican seem to blur this line. A correspondent’s job, as defined by one, is to transport news being as honest and clear as possible, while still being loyal to the pope. This raises the question of whether or not this can really be considered objective journalism since it is being reported through a certain agenda. In order to answer this, it is important to look at examples of the work put out by Vatican correspondents: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/vatican/vatican.htm, http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/headlines/vatican/
Most stories on these sites deal with the goings on in Vatican City and the Catholic community. They keep the public updated on the activity of the pope and his views on different things going on in the world. Through exploring the stories put out by these and other Catholic media outlets, it is clear that the stories depict the pope and the Vatican community in a positive light. However, the agencies are also upfront about this. They clearly state their mission statement as the mission of the Catholic Church itself. (http://www.catholicnews.com/aboutcns.htm) They are upfront about what they are doing and what kind of reporting one can expect from them. While they may not fairly report all sides of an issue, they are not trying to deceive their audience into thinking that they do. 
Because they are reporting for and about a specific institution, Vatican reporters do seem to be more like PR workers. They are not pushing the message of the church in the sense of publishing teachings from the church, but they are presenting the information as seen through the eyes of the pope and the religious community. In America we are taught that the role of the media is to be watchdogs on the government, to question everything, and to report a story from as many sides as possible and from a neutral point of view, despite our own feelings on the topic. While there are certain networks and publications that take a more conservative or liberal view on issues in America, there is still a good representation of both sides of the spectrum, and it is widely known which outlets and more conservative and which are more liberal. Similarly, there are religious and non-religious media outlets in Rome, and they clearly state their point of view in their mission statements.
However, I believe it is hard for us, as Americans, to be able to decide whether this work should be considered journalism, because it is so unlike anything that we have here. Without spending time living in Rome and visiting the Vatican City and understanding the way of life there, it is hard for us to judge the work their reporters put out. While it may be considered PR work from an American point of view, these correspondents are considered reputable journalists to the citizens of Rome.
Another interesting side to this issue is the work the pope does himself in relation to spreading his message. Vatican Radio (http://vaticanradio.com/) was founded in 1931 under the time of Pope Pius XI. The station grew under each subsequent pope, as each had his own ideas for how to make use of the radio and how to expand its purpose. The first significant use of the station was under Pope Pius XII with his Christmas Addresses during World War II, when he used the radio to provide information regarding the condition of the church in Poland. In 1948, it expanded to broadcast in 18 different languages. In 1950, it was one of the founding broadcasting organizations of the European Broadcasting Union. Vatican Radio has just recently started broadcasting advertisements, as of July 2009, but it requires that all ads meet high moral standards.
An interesting question raised in the meeting with the Vatican correspondent was whether it was necessary to be a Catholic in order to do this line of work. It would seem like it would be an important requirement of the job, because how could someone spread a message and point of view that he or she does not believe in? Interestingly, Allen, the correspondent we met with, said that he has a few co-workers who do not believe in the message of the Church, but did not think that was an issue. He said his non-religious co-workers felt that it was not necessary and they didn’t see their lack of faith as an obstacle. However, he felt that he could never do the work he does if he didn’t have faith. He felt that he would get bored doing the reporting and would not be able to connect with the material on which he was reporting. He said he thinks he might get fed up with the work and find it irrelevant. This seems like a good point. From and American point of view, it can be comparable to a public relations worker who works for a company that they do not support and has to put out pro-company messaging every day.
Beyond the issues of not believing in the message, it can also be questioned how well a reporter can spread a message from a point of view that they do not hold. Allen said that while he does believe these correspondents can still report in an honest and fair way, he feels that non-Catholic reporters might not understand the full message. Since they don’t hold the same beliefs as the pope, it is possible that parts of his message might be lost on them, thus decreasing the value of their work. So, while being Catholic is not a requirement of the job, it seems like an important component to getting the full story across. 
Magazine Journalism
No comments:
Post a Comment