The media at the service of peace

"The fundamental moral requirement of all communication is respect for and service of the truth... The mass media have an inescapable responsibility in this sense, since they constitute the modern arena in which ideas are shared and people can grow in mutual understanding and solidarity. This is why Pope John XXIII defended the right 'to freedom in investigating the truth and - within the limits of the moral order and the common good - to freedom of speech and publication' as necessary conditions for social peace."

This extract is taken from Pope John Paul II's Message for the 37th World Communications Day, which is being celebrated today.

The theme is "The Communications Media at the Service of Authentic Peace in the Light of Pacem in Terris". Since this year the Church is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pacem in Terris, an effort is being made to look at several ecclesial occasions from the perspective of Pope John XXIII's famous encyclical letter.

The Pope's message while putting forward "the fundamental moral requirement of all communication" also portrays the real situation.

"In fact, the media often do render courageous service to the truth; but sometimes they function as agents of propaganda and disinformation in the service of narrow interests, national, ethnic, racial, and religious prejudices, material greed and false ideologies of various kinds. It is imperative that the pressures brought to bear on the media to err in such ways be resisted first of all by the men and women of the media themselves, but also by the Church and other concerned groups."

We have just been through two fiercely fought campaigns: the referendum and the general election. It's always said that among first victims of war there are truth and the desire to know truth. If those managing the media put their hands on their conscience wouldn't some (at least) notice that they were acting more as agents of propaganda and disinformation than as courageous servers to the truth?

If many people who used the media look critically at their behaviour during the same period of time would they not say that they were more interested in accepting uncritically what their side was saying than seeking truth no matter what?

What we have just written about Malta we can write about the rest of the world, especially in situations of tension and conflict.

This situation of conflict is well described by the Pope.

"Today... peace, justice and social stability are still lacking in many parts of the world. Terrorism, conflict in the Middle East and other regions, threats and counter-threats, injustice, exploitation and assaults upon the dignity and sanctity of human life, both before and after birth, are dismaying realities of our times. Meanwhile, the power of the media to shape human relationships and influence political and social life, both for good and for ill, has enormously increased."

The message notes that the media often belong to particular interest groups, private and public. This, in itself, can bring the temptation that the media serve the interests of the owners at the expense of everything and everyone else.

On the other hand, the very nature of the media and the very nature of their impact on life requires that they must not serve to set one group against another. This sometimes happens "in the name of class conflict, exaggerated nationalism, racial supremacy, ethnic cleansing and the like". The Pope reserves special hard words to those who abuse religion. "Setting some against others in the name of religion is a particularly serious failure against truth and justice, as is discriminatory treatment of religious beliefs, since these belong to the deepest realm of the human person's dignity and freedom."

In our local situation the greater temptation is to serve political interests over the common good. One accepts as a fact of nature that each medium has a policy, which it pushes forward. This can be referred to as a bias and when declared it can be accepted as justified. But the serving of a policy and the inherent bias it brings about should not include a strategy that denigrates the opponent, using half-truths and outright lies.

While the strength of politicians on the media should be noted, one should not underestimate the strength of commercial interests.

These can also be culprits in this regard. The Pope's message makes a reference to this reality.

"Reporters and commentators in particular have a serious duty to follow the demands of their moral conscience and to resist pressures to 'adapt' the truth to satisfy the demands of wealth or political power."

This year's message for Communications Sunday is particularly relevant to our situation as it touches some of the core problems of our media environment.