2008 Woodie Awards
Sensationalizing the Pope
The world is tuning in to watch Pope Benedict XVI's every move, as the media coverage of the new Pope grows.
Anna Goldberg
Issue date: 4/27/05 Section: Opinion
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Pope John Paul II was an important figure in the religious and political world whose death had an impact on many of his followers. His socially conscious stands against the war in Iraq and the death penalty along with his advocacy for clean water and vaccinations for the poor made him a humanitarian in the eyes of many.
So it's not surprising that his death has taken up what seems like permanent residence on news channels for weeks after his death. And it's unlikely that the Catholic Church minds such excessive coverage; for once the spotlight glare is on something other than its myriad wrongdoings - the seemingly endless litany of molestation accusations, the deafening papal silence on church-sponsored misinformation that worsened the AIDS epidemic in Africa - but enough is enough.
Yes, there are more than a billion Catholics, for many of whom the pope's death and its aftermath supercedes anything else, but what about the 5 billion non-Catholics for whom a few days of news coverage on the matter is plenty?
One of the media's primary charges, news outlets specifically, is to present balanced news coverage - unfortunately, that has not been the case lately.
The 24/7 coverage the story got didn't leave time for much else. There were a number of important stories that ended up flying under the radar due to the media's singular focus on the pope's death:
A report stating that America was "dead wrong" about its analysis of Iraq's weapons capabilities and that we still know "disturbingly little" about other important intelligence targets, such as Iran and North Korea; the continuing ethics problems of GOP leader Tom DeLay; the president's signing of the Bankruptcy Bill - all of these stories deserve close attention paid by the public, but they've been afterthoughts in the last few weeks.
Kind of makes the week after pope's death a perfect time to release stories that one would want swept under the rug.
The solution is simple. The media should stop over-covering what's easy and available, which often leads to recycling the same material, and instead investigate and report to us something worth our time.
Our 10 o'clock news are not meant to be used for drawn out eulogies and as PR tools for Catholic Church, so lets keep it that way.
So it's not surprising that his death has taken up what seems like permanent residence on news channels for weeks after his death. And it's unlikely that the Catholic Church minds such excessive coverage; for once the spotlight glare is on something other than its myriad wrongdoings - the seemingly endless litany of molestation accusations, the deafening papal silence on church-sponsored misinformation that worsened the AIDS epidemic in Africa - but enough is enough.
Yes, there are more than a billion Catholics, for many of whom the pope's death and its aftermath supercedes anything else, but what about the 5 billion non-Catholics for whom a few days of news coverage on the matter is plenty?
One of the media's primary charges, news outlets specifically, is to present balanced news coverage - unfortunately, that has not been the case lately.
The 24/7 coverage the story got didn't leave time for much else. There were a number of important stories that ended up flying under the radar due to the media's singular focus on the pope's death:
A report stating that America was "dead wrong" about its analysis of Iraq's weapons capabilities and that we still know "disturbingly little" about other important intelligence targets, such as Iran and North Korea; the continuing ethics problems of GOP leader Tom DeLay; the president's signing of the Bankruptcy Bill - all of these stories deserve close attention paid by the public, but they've been afterthoughts in the last few weeks.
Kind of makes the week after pope's death a perfect time to release stories that one would want swept under the rug.
The solution is simple. The media should stop over-covering what's easy and available, which often leads to recycling the same material, and instead investigate and report to us something worth our time.
Our 10 o'clock news are not meant to be used for drawn out eulogies and as PR tools for Catholic Church, so lets keep it that way.
