 |
When
I was a journalism student at Central
Michigan University back in the late '70s,
I was much more interested in pursuing
my career than practicing my Catholic
faith. Yes, I believed in God, but didn’t
think I needed any of God’s help except
maybe on the night before a big exam. |
Something
Worthy of Your Best Years
I didn’t pay much attention to Pope John Paul
the Second except as it pertained to major
news events. Then there was a powerful statement
made by the Holy Father concerning the important
role of the mass media. The pope gave the
message to journalists covering his visit
to the United Nations. I was still in college
and discovered the statement in a magazine
published by a national journalism organization.
It was accompanied by a picture of the pope
smiling and standing behind a microphone.
His comments came with a caption that caught
my attention: “Something Worthy of Your Best
Years.” The pope may have been speaking to
experienced reporters used to covering major
events, but I felt he was talking directly
to me. I wanted to make a difference by being
a messenger of truth, and that’s exactly what
John Paul the Second told the reporters covering
his United Nations visit:
You are indeed servants of the truth; you
are its tireless transmitters, diffusers,
defenders. You are dedicated communicators,
promoting unity among all nations by sharing
truth among all nations. If your reporting
does not always command the attention you
would desire, or if it does not always conclude
with the success that you would wish, do not
grow discouraged. Be faithful to the truth
and to its transmission, for truth endures:
Truth will not go away. And I say to you,
take it as my parting words to you — that
the service of truth, the service of humanity
through the medium of the truth, is something
worthy of your best years, your finest talents,
your most dedicated efforts.
I framed that statement and although the page
is a bit worn and yellow around the edges,
it still sits on my desk today. The words
of the pope kept me going as I moved from
radio to TV news, and are especially meaningful
to me now as a Catholic talk-show host.
Looking back, I realize now that not only
did the Holy Father encourage me and other
members of the news media that our jobs matter
and that our mission was important, he also
challenged the mass media to be more responsible.
He expressed his concerns to working journalists,
media managers in the printed press, and those
who control programming and content on TV
stations, radio stations, and the networks.
His message for World Communications Day 2004
was particularly strong. While acknowledging
that the expansion of the communication market
could be beneficial in terms of educational
and spiritual growth, he also helped parents
realize that excessive use of the media could
be problematic:
Parents also need to regulate the use of media
in the home. This would include planning and
scheduling media use, strictly limiting the
time children devote to the media, making
entertainment a family experience, putting
some media entirely off limits and periodically
excluding all of them for the sake of other
family activities. Above all, parents should
give good examples to children by their own
thoughtful and selective use of media.
In that 2004 statement the pope’s message
was music to the ears of those working to
change federal regulations regarding violence
and sexual content on radio and in prime-time
programming. Media activist groups such as
the Parents TV Council consistently tell their
members and the general public to speak out,
to write letters, send emails, and make phone
calls. Pope John Paul the Second echoed those
sentiments: “Families should be outspoken
in telling producers, advertisers, and public
authorities what they like and dislike,” he
said.
Proclaimed from the Rooftops Interestingly
his charge to the media did not discourage
the world-wide press from covering the Holy
Father. The cameras, microphones, and notepads
were with John Paul II everywhere he went.
Whether it was satellite TV, cable, the Internet,
or newspaper, because of his willingness to
share through the media what he received in
prayer, it is said that he eventually became
the most recognizable person in the world.
News veterans say his media accessibility
was reflective of how he carried out his papacy.
Bob Kuszynski, Assignment Manager for the
Detroit ABC affiliate, WXYZ-TV Channel 7,
noted how even the announcement of the pope’s
passing took advantage of the latest in technology.
The announcement was made via the Internet
and through an email alert. It was the pope
who also approved and blessed the first Vatican
Web site. He even had his own email address.
Kuszynski says John Paul the Second was always
trying to get closer to his flock and he knew
the mass media could help him accomplish that
goal. “He was always reaching out, and that
was reflected in his travels around the world.
After a while the media became second nature
to him and to the public. He had built such
a charisma. Everyone loved him and followed
him. He didn’t have to think about the media
because they were always right there with
him,” Kuszynski said. One scripture verse
in particular seems almost prophetic in terms
of the way the pope dealt with and worked
with the media. He always had a message for
them, but never failed to use the media wisely
to proclaim the Gospel. In the 27th verse
of the 10th Chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells
His disciples “what is whispered in your ear
proclaim from the housetops.”No verse is more
applicable when we consider the media explosion
that occurred during the last 26 years when
John Paul the Second served as the Vicar of
Christ. The pope even incorporated this particular
scripture into his message for World Communications
Day 2001, “Preach from the housetops”: The
Gospel in the Age of Global Communication.
He told the Catholic faithful that “we have
listened to the truth of Jesus, now we must
proclaim the truth from the housetops.”What
do we see today when we drive down the street
and look at the rooftops or housetops of homes
in our neighborhoods? We see a “forest of
transmitters and antennae sending and receiving
messages of every kind to and from the four
corners of the earth.” The pope pointed out
that among all the messages and images being
sent and received “it is vitally important
that the word of God be heard…. To proclaim
the faith from the housetops means to speak
Jesus’s word in and through the dynamic world
of communications.”Kuszynski added that John
Paul the Second was such a contrast to other
popes in the mid to late 20th century mainly
because he was the first one who could take
advantage of the many housetops or the advances
in media technology: “He is the first pope
to have his visits to foreign countries transmitted
via satellite to everywhere in the world.
And then his message was also transmitted
via radio, cable, and the Internet.” Kuszynski,
a practicing Catholic, who has worked in Detroit
radio and TV for more than thirty years, said
he was especially moved by an interview he
heard recently with a magazine reporter who
traveled with the pope: “The writer explained
how the pope would make his way to the back
of the plane where the press corps was seated.
The pope would stop and talk with each reporter
answering questions in the reporter’s native
language. His willingness to communicate with
the press and his language skills was another
sign that he understood the importance of
interacting with the media.” Higher Standards
Ned McGrath, a former TV journalist who currently
serves as Communications Director for the
Archdiocese of Detroit, said the pope never
took the news media for granted: “As a former
news reporter, I always appreciated the pope’s
expressed gratitude for the hard and difficult
work done by media professionals. True, he
never hesitated to challenge the media outlets
on matters of decency and responsibility.
At the same time, however, he never condemned
the media en masse. Instead he called them
to accountability and higher standards,” McGrath
said.Pope John Paul the Second was photographed
with presidents, kings, countless children,
and even rock stars including Bono and Bob
Dylan. He was a favorite of young people around
the world, even though he was old enough to
be their grandfather or even great-grandfather
and held strong to Catholic Church teachings
that prohibit sex outside of marriage, birth
control, and abortion. His teachings contrasted
with what teens hear in today’s media, especially
when you consider that young people receive
at least 14 thousand sexual messages each
year from TV alone. But communications specialists
will tell you that because of his strong faith,
his natural charisma, and his sincere love
of people, he was a media magnet. Hundreds
of thousands of young people flocked to World
Youth Day events, gatherings that produced
some of Pope John Paul the Second’s most memorable
moments.
In this day and age of media spin and public
relations blitzes, McGrath insists the pope
won the media over by simply being true to
himself, but especially true to his faith:
“Until his final breath, this was a pope who
realized the value and power of the media.
Consider, for example, how his very public
witness to the Gospel of Life — the dignity
of the human person — is a story being told
and retold around the world. It was the Holy
Father’s message; the media generously served
as his messenger.”As someone who spent more
than 20 years in the secular media, and now
hosts a Catholic talk show, I am amazed at
how the pope’s writings concerning the media
are so applicable to the lives of others in
the media and to the lives of parents and
families around the globe. On a personal level,
I treasure the fact that I had the chance
to cover the pope twice on his visits to the
US and to be part of a papal audience in Rome.
I’ve come a long way from those days in college
when I was a Christmas and Easter Catholic.
Struggles, disappointments, and challenges
eventually forced me to look beyond my own
selfish interests and go back to the core
beliefs of my Catholic faith. As I continue
on my Christian walk and as I continue working
in the media, I do find that my reporting
doesn’t always, as the Holy Father said, command
the attention I would desire, or conclude
with the success that I had hoped for. I often
get very frustrated with many in the media
who continually distort the truth or show
a particular bias. But despite all of that,
I truly believe that the “service of humanity
through the medium of truth is something still
worthy of my best years, my finest talents,
and my most dedicated efforts.” So I will
continue to do my part to proclaim it from
the rooftops.
© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange
Teresa Tomeo is a former Detroit area newswoman
with more than 20 years of experience as a
radio and TV anchor in the Detroit area. She
now works as a Motivational Speaker and a
Catholic talk-show host on the Ave Maria Radio
Network. Teresa also serves as a media columnist
for a daily suburban Detroit newspaper.
|
