Agency Journalism and the Christian Message (3)

Zagreb, April 23, 2003 (IKA) — Božo Rustja, head of the Press Office of the Kopar Diocese and a lecturer at the Catholic College of Theology in Ljubljana, spoke about the boundaries and opportunities of Catholic agency journalism. He mentioned that journalists who work in the Catholic media feel that boundaries have been set for them and that they are limited in their writing because they cannot write in a sensationalistic manner. He emphasized that the fact that we do not seek sensationalism does not prevent our writing from being interesting. He also mentioned a second, greater limitation that we encounter in Catholic journalism, which concerns whether it is necessary to report on events that harm the Church and its reputation and how to report on unpleasant occurrences in the Church, i.e. scandals. Undoubtedly, Christ’s words, that the truth will make us free, apply in such cases, he said, adding that in no way does he disagree with Archbishop John Foley that the best defense against articles on the scandals in the Church is the virtuous lives of Christians. Mr. Rustja also noted that such reporting opens new opportunities for the Christian journalist. Undoubtedly, journalists who are only acquainted with the phenomenon of the Church from the outside, i.e. non-Catholic journalists, will view the Church as a simple institution that is struggling for influence, power or authority, and they will not only condemn the injustices but the Church itself. A Catholic journalist will certainly share the condemnations of injustices in the Church but at the same time he will report them as one, two or three instances within the Church but not as something that expresses the essence of the Church. The essence of the Church is more profound. The Church is greater than the injustices of its members, he explained. He also spoke about the fact that many people in the Church have a disdainful attitude toward the media, noting that the members of the Church will not solve problems if they withdraw from the media but will only exacerbate misunderstandings and confirm the distrust of the public, giving the impression that the Church is a closed institution and secret organization that hides from the public. The Church has nothing to hide because its work is not secret, he said, adding that Catholic agencies have a great role in this, which in addition to the media and via them to the public, provide information about the Church and the variety it contains. Providing the public with such information about the Church will also help create a true picture and in this manner eliminate misunderstandings. He also said that it would be incorrect for the only sources of information on the Church to be representatives of the hierarchy. Mr. Rustja also expressed support for the creation of “alternative journalism” that would give priority to positive news and “good sensationalism.”
At the colloquium, a lecture was also read by Erich Leitenberg, editor-in-chief of the Austrian Catholic agency Kathpress and the head of the Press Office of the Austrian Conference of Bishops, on the network of Central European Catholic news agencies. The presentation mentioned the importance of Kathpress during the communist regimes in Southeastern Europe, when this agency had a double role. On the one side, it reported the actual situation of the Church in these countries, and on the other, for many bishops in Eastern Europe, it was a continuing source of information regarding events throughout the Church. As two important challenges for Catholic agencies in Central and Eastern Europe, he mentioned two aspects: speed and effectiveness, because the one who has the first information on the market forms attitudes. He emphasized that European networking is necessitated by the moment, noting that Catholic agencies in the German-speaking regions have had a common press agency in Rome since the Second Vatican Council. Speaking about the good cooperation between Kathpress and IKA, Leitenberger said: “The activity of IKA during the past ten years was valuable for us because it is important to have an address in Zagreb on which it is possible to rely a hundred percent.”
Helmut Ruppert, the editor-in-chief of the German Catholic press agency KNA, presented the so-called “religious journalism” in the Catholic and Protestant media activities in Germany. He mentioned that the Catholic and Evangelic press in Germany are not in the best situation because there are ever fewer Christians, connection with the Church has weakened, and also there has been a decline in the demand for Church press. He presented statistical data indicating the weak presence of the Church in the secular media. He also reviewed the activity of KNA for the past half century, which has 81 employees and 350 outside associates in Germany and other countries, and in 2002 published 28,000 texts with 6.5 million words. In addition to its daily service, KNA provides various other professional services. It also produces 25 hours of spoken radio programming monthly, and a year and a half ago it inaugurated a new service to provide photographic materials to clients.
Ignazio Ingrao, president of the International Federation of Catholic News Agencies (FIAC), spoke about the relationship between Catholic journalism and European integration. In his presentation, he mentioned the interesting fact that of the thirty-four members of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences, nine bishops’ conferences do not have a press office and eleven of them do not have an Internet page. In connection with press offices, he pointed out that the bishops’ conferences of Western Europe hire lay persons, professional journalists, and in the countries of Eastern Europe, priests are in charge of disseminating information. Speaking about the processes of integration in Europe, he said that for Christians there is only one Europe. In response to a question on how Catholic journalists can explain this Europe, he said that it is the task of Catholic journalists to explain that Europe needs the spirit that inspires political and economic efforts.
Dr. Jelena Jurišić of the Department of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, spoke about the relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church with the media, noting that the recent history of the religious media in Russia began in May 1990 when the Free Conscience and Religious Organizations Act was passed. Since then, a fairly widespread system has been created of religious mass media — publishing, radio stations, information agencies, television programs and Internet sites of a variety of levels, types and directions. She mentioned that today in Russia there are 13,078 religious associations registered: 226 religious centers and administrations, 12,001 religious communities that belong to 58 different religions and confessions, 309 missions, 148 institutions of religious education, and since the majority of them publish their own printed material or have their own page on the Internet, the variety of information they generate can only be imagined. Despite belonging to various churches, their goal is the same — to spread religion and the spiritual enlightenment of believers, she said. Regarding the religious media of the Russian Orthodox Church, she said that under current conditions, they must solve a series of tasks through their publications, which are primarily missionary, catechesic and religious educational activities, the conversion of the people and their return to the Church.