Bishop welcomes new press overseer

THE PRESS Ombudsman should help sustain public confidence in the media and encourage high standards in journalism, Bishop Joseph Duffy, chairman of the Communications Commission of the Irish Bishops' Conference, said yesterday.

Bishop Duffy said because of their influence on society, those who work in the media had an important responsibility to seek out the truth and to accurately report the facts, and he believed the establishment of the Office of the Press Ombudsman would further this goal.

Commenting on the Catholic Church-designated World Communications Day, Bishop Duffy said all people, whether media producers or end-users, were stakeholders "in this important and powerful sector".

"We should therefore be proactive when it comes to supporting or challenging positions taken in, or via, the media, especially when such positions have implications for the mission of the Catholic Church" he said.

He said the theme of this year's Word Communications day was The Media: At the Crossroads Between Self Promotion and Service. Searching For the Truth In Order to Share it With Others.

He welcomed a contribution to World Communications Day from Pope Benedict XVI to the effect that "the social communications media in particular" had a special responsibility for promoting the family, making clear its expectations and rights".

Pope Benedict in his message to the organisers also warned of the dangers of claiming to represent reality, which could "tend to legitimise or impose distorted models of personal, family or social life".

Moreover the pope said the media "does not hesitate at times to resort to vulgarity and violence and to overstep the mark".

"The media can also present and support models of development which serve to increase rather than reduce the technological divide between rich and poor countries" said Pope Benedict in his message.

Bishop Duffy said this had been Pope Benedict's third annual message for World Communications Day, building on last year's theme: 'Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education.

"It is published for the benefit of all those with an interest in the common good," said Bishop Duffy.

The pope's World Communications Day message was marked in Catholic churches across the world yesterday, the Sunday before Pentecost in the Church's calendar.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times