Signs of real progress with ‘the media’

One frustrating part about having the DNA of a journalist is that I’m a Catholic. And one maddening aspect of being a Catholic is my nearly 40 years as a media professional and journalism professor. I’m completely dedicated to both journalism and the Church, and that often puts me in a very difficult position between two critical and necessary endeavors that all-to-often clash.

This head-butting is ironic because both, in essence, have the same goal. Both pursue truth and justice – journalism in this life and the Church both here and in the next. That’s why both are so attractive to me, and why I often defend one to the other.

Because I straddle the line between the two, I was especially attracted to a panel on the media at the US Conference of Bishops Convocation of Catholic Leaders. The title of the panel, “The Landscape of Popular Culture, Media, and News in the United States,” showed great promise. Most people lump all contemporary communication under the umbrella term of “the media.”  The title itself acknowledged that these three branches of the communication process are far from uniform. By the end of the session, I was heartened and optimistic for the future.

When engaging any form of media, panelists seemed
to agree on the importance of presenting a realistic
vision of the Church – neither gloom and doom nor
idealized perfection.

Let’s address the obvious first. There is no reconciling popular culture and the Church. Nor should there be. In general, 21^st century pop culture portrays views of critical social concerns – such as consumerism, materialism, life issues, sexuality, marriage and family issues – that are in direct conflict with Catholic moral teaching. Our role as the Church is, and always has been, to serve as conscience and counterbalance. We are “in” this world, not “of” this world. As one convocation participant stated, “We have always been in conflict with the dominant culture.”

Discussion of “the media” gravitated toward new digital media. The group condemned, of course, the pervasiveness of social media, immersion in smartphones and other devices, and the easy availability of immoral material such as abuses of human dignity, violence, and pornography. Younger participants, however, noted the distinction between the message and the delivery system. New media is here to stay and will only expand, they said, and we should learn how to use these new tools to our best advantage by investing in message quality.

Finally, the news media attracted the usual criticisms of bias, sensationalism, inaccuracy, and lack of understanding of the Church. To be sure, these criticisms are not completely without justification. There are, however, ways to address these issues.

The first is a better understanding of the mission of the news media. News is defined by change, by anomalies. As one veteran local television anchor once explained, “We don’t report on planes that didn’t crash or banks that weren’t robbed.” So when negative Church issues such as abuse, financial irregularities and declining population arise, expect the news to report it. But these unfortunate occurrences also provide opportunities the Church can use to its advantage. And it’s by using the same technique that is our best practice for evangelization – personal encounters.

The news business, much like the “Church business,” is relationship-based. The best way to ensure an accurate interpretation of the Church in the news media is to nurture ongoing relationships with local journalists. At least one diocese seems to be doing a good job of this.

In a small group discussion during the panel, Fr. Sean Fleming said his diocese of Buffalo, New York, has two former local newspeople in its communications office. Part of their job is to develop and maintain ties with local news organizations so they can be credible sources of information when bad things happen. They can also pitch positive stories to the media that inform the public about the good things that are happening in the diocese. This helps promote a fair and accurate public image of the Church in the Buffalo area.

There will always be tension between the Church and our many different forms of media. There should be. But the primary goal is to nurture understanding and respect, especially on the local level. And with the Church going in that direction, it will see great fruit.

Theology professor calls Church to ‘permanent state of mission’

A Boston College theology professor says cultural changes and immigration patterns have radically changed the face of the Catholic Church in America. Dr. Hosffman Ospino says these two overlapping influences have made the Church ripe for the new evangelization initiative raised by the Second Vatican Council and emphasized by popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.

Dr. Hosffman Ospino told the USCCB Convocation of 

Catholic Leaders that challenges to the Church are resulting in a
“new way of being Catholic.”

“We must declare ourselves in a permanent state of mission,” Ospino said. “We must see ourselves permanently engaged in missionary activity going forth, taking the initiative, going to the peripheries, embracing Jesus Christ in those who are most vulnerable and in need, reaching out to those who have drifted away.”

Ospino, the director of graduate programs in Hispanic ministry at Boston College, was the keynote speaker on the second day of the Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando, Fla. The convocation, organized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to promote the Church’s new evangelization initiative, has attracted more than 3,500 clergy, religious, and lay leaders from across the country.

Osino said European immigrants from the late 19^th and early 20^th century, their children, and their grandchildren helped reshape the United States by building schools, hospitals, and providing extensive social services. This led to a short period of stability in the mid-20^th century. These descendants embraced the American way of life, becoming acculturated, educated, and upwardly mobile – both politically and economically.

“We could offer this community experience,” said the researcher, “as a perfect case study of the American dream achieved.”

This achieved dream, however, came at a great price – four major cultural shifts outlined by Ospino that, he says, significantly affected the practice of religion in the United States. These changes include a radical reconfiguration in family life, a focus on the individual at the expense of caring and concern for others, and the use of religion as a political weapon in the culture wars that has made dialog almost impossible.

“The Gospel is not an ideology to be co-opted to advance any ideological position,” declared Ospino – an assertion that drew thunderous applause.

The fourth and possibly most critical change, according to the researcher, is the rise of secularism – including the dramatic increase in the number of so-called “nones” – 25 percent of the American public who claim no religious affiliation at all. Ospino said that percentage includes 20 million people who used to identify themselves as Catholic.

“Why are they leaving?” Ospino asked. “Why is religion, particularly Catholicism, not doing it for them? And where is our outrage? We have a serious challenge.”

This loss among the descendants of the first wave of Catholic immigration is being matched by a second wave of newcomers. Since, 1960, Ospino said, Hispanics have accounted for 71 percent of the Church’s growth in the U.S., and also comprise 60 percent of Catholics under the age of 18. Asians, Ospino said, currently make up the fastest-growing community of Catholics in the country. They are joined by hundreds of thousands of Catholics from Africa and the Caribbean. In all, Ospino said, about a quarter of the approximately 80 million Catholics in the U.S. are immigrants.

“They are the face of Christ,” Ospino told the gathering. “They and their children embody the hope of a new beginning, and bring the best of their faith and cultures to enrich the faith communities.”

Spino said this cultural change has resulted in geographic changes in the Church, with populations shifting from the northeast to the western and southern areas of the country. Opportunity, however, have not yet followed this shift, according to the theology professor.

“We are witnessing a transition from a Catholic experience highly resourced and somewhat comfortable in terms of socio-economic positioning,” he said, “to one shaped strongly by Catholics with fewer resources, less education, and emerging socio-political influence whose greatest treasures are their faith and their families.

“There is no doubt that we are at the dawn of a fresh, new way of being Catholic in this country.”

###

The past two posts have had a more traditional journalistic style. Soon to come (I hope!) is a more usual personal analysis of a panel on the pop culture, media, and the news.