Pope attacks media for 'distorted morals' (praises Internet)

Pope Benedict XVI today said the media were too often used irresponsibly to spread "violence and vulgarity" and impose "distorted models" of social and family life. He urged the world's communicators instead to adopt what he called "info-ethics".

In a message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Communications Day, Pope Benedict said the media often sought to create reality rather than report it, with agendas dictated by "the dominant interests" of the day. "This is what happens when communication is used for ideological purposes or for the aggressive advertising of consumer products. When communication loses its ethical underpinning and eludes society's control, it ends up no longer taking into account the centrality and inviolable dignity of the human person" he said.

He added "For this reason it is essential that social communications should assiduously defend the person and fully respect human dignity. Many people now think there is a need, in this sphere, for 'info-ethics', just as we have bioethics in the field of medicine and in scientific research linked to life." He said the media "in order to attract listeners and increase the size of audiences, do not hesitate at times to have recourse to vulgarity and violence and overstep the mark".

He praised new media such as the internet, which were "changing the very face of communications", but said they were often misused. A new "info-ethics" would help to prevent the media from becoming "spokesmen for economic materialism and ethical relativism, the true scourges of our time", and from being "exploited for indiscriminate self-promotion or ending up in the hands of those who use them to manipulate consciences".

He concluded that "Man thirsts for truth, he seeks truth; this fact is illustrated by the attention and the success achieved by so many publications, programmes or quality fiction in which the truth, beauty and greatness of the person, including the religious dimension of the person, are acknowledged and favourably presented. Jesus said: 'You will know the truth and the truth will make you free' (John 8:32). The truth which makes us free is Christ, because only he can respond fully to the thirst for life and love that is present in the human heart".

It may not appear to be all bad but you are giving to the controlled media and supporting them. Also you are receiving messages in advertisments, both visually and through audio, that undermine good morality. The whole medium of television is aimed at your emotions and not your intellect. To say that some of it is good is to miss the truth of the situation. As McLuhan said,"The medium is the message." Everything is designed to get you to watch commercials. Thats why they are often times more interesting than the shows. But it is the medium itself which ultimately effects the viewer more than the content. The medium places the viewer in an "alpha wave" state and then injects it's message which is generally emotional. That's why so many people when asked will say,"We have to get rid of Bush!" a truly nonsensical statement since he is not running.

What you state is that TV is within your comfort zone. What I said was: "The early Christians were willing to die for the faith, are we even willing to be inconvenienced?"

RM: We are force fed “candidates” by the controlled media. It’s hard to even have a sensible conversation with the average person who has been hypnotized by the flickering screen. Turn it off and disconnect your cable if you want a Christian world.

HH: But my dish also gives me the opportunity to enjoy food, sports, the history channels and Book-TV. I don't think it's all bad.

You are both right but RM nails it when he notes that we are "force-fed" candidates by the media. The presidential election has turned into a media circus that begins the day after the election has ended and continues for 4 years. They use the power of tv to whip up public sentiment one way or another, turning us into shills. I used to be a news junkie, flipping between cnn, msnbc, fox, etc. Each night, I would find myself screaming at the news reporter for misleading information. I gave it up for Lent that year and never looked back. Like RM, I do my own research and follow the news on FR where we get full coverage via news stories from around the world.

RM is also correct in stating that many Americans are hypnotized by the flickering screen. When cable was first launched (okay this dates me) the salient reason for subscribing was ..... no commercials. That's correct, cable television was originally commercial free. Now we are not only inundated with commercials during the day but are subjected to the paid commercial advertising throughout the night. The worst commercials are from the pharmaceutical companies. Family viewing time is now rife with advertisements for male enhancement and genital herpes ads!

The quality of television programming has consistently diminished over the decades. Remarkably, folks are purchasing larger televisions .... to view what? I do agree with HH, however, that cable and dish have some fine offerings for the more discriminating. Were it not for EWTN (Catholic television programming) and TCM, I would simply disconnect the cable service. There are some good programs on FOOD, DISC, USA, NGEO and HIST, but these are few and far between.

Many years ago, when television was first introduced, it was suggested that it would become the tool of Satan. For those with children, take a good look at the programs and advertisements directed towards that audience. Gone are the wonderful cartoons like Looney Tunes now replaced with politically correct ones that promote left wing agendas. How ironic that many parents pay a hefty monthly charge for expanded stations and an additional charge to block some of those programs from their children.

Thank you both for your comments; I enjoyed them.

Two quick comments:

I didn't mean to imply that this is a 24/7 television household. It certainly isn't. Like NYer, my news is gathered mostly from other sources, like FR. For myself, television viewing is limited to weekends only.

NYer mentions EWTN, which did, (and may still), produce a program celebrating the life and works of G.K. Chesterton. I was, of course, familiar with Chesterton, but had never read any of his works. It was the program that inspired me to begin reading Chesterton, which helped enrich my life.

I truly don't believe it's the medium. It's the individual watching and the moral compass possessed.

Thanks for your comments.

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