The Pope’s Word of Caution for Journalists
Pope Francis has offered an interesting caution for journalists:
Pope Francis gave an interview to a Belgian magazine in which he cautioned media to avoid several major temptations, including the desire to always focus on scandal – which he compared to “coprophilia,” a mental illness in which a person has an abnormal interest in feces.
“Media I think have to be very clean, very clean and very transparent. And not fall – without offending, please – into the sickness of coprophilia,” the Pope said in his new interview, published Dec. 7. …
“Media are the builders of a society” and as such are meant to foster a fraternal exchange of ideas, to educate and to make one think. Media is not inherently evil, he said, but cautioned that we are all sinners, and even media “have their temptations.”
In a way, this relates to my post earlier today about countering the bad with the good. Mainstream journalists who are sincerely concerned about “fake news” should counter by proving contrast. Similarly, those of us who find the mainstream irredeemably biased should strive to offer a better alternative, whether genuinely objective or more honest about the contrary bias while being overtly fair, as well.