Posted on 04/11/2008 10:42:26 AM PDT by NYer
Really, I don't think they could have chosen a better representative of St. Blogs than Amy.
On the New York Times staff, it's Ian Fisher and Laurie Goodstein. Laurie I've heard is normally balanced.
I hope this turns out to be as much of a sign of progress as it could be. Finally, mainstream media organizations are realizing that their coverage of things Catholic is lacking, and they're reaching out to fix it.
Check it out!
Sounds promising!
Definitely positive!
yeah, right.
Only one priest, and him a leftist. I’m not impressed by this panel generally, although for the NYT it’s not as bad as it could be. I’m sure they don’t realize how lightweight this group is overall, compared to what it COULD be if you had some really authoritative and highly educated religious on there, some real theologians, for example any of the “good” Jesuits such as Pacwa, Spitzer, Kenneth Baker, etc, would be preferable to that nut from “America” magazine.
Should be interesting to follow.
Fr. Trigilio has some interesting, somewhat amusing, comments on what to expect from the MSM coverage of the Papal visit:
http://blackbiretta.blogspot.com/2008/04/beware-of-usual-suspects.html
Thank you for posting that link. On my s-l-o-w-e-r t-h-a-n s-l-u-d-g-e 9 y/o dial up iMac, it is taking too long to open it. Will visit the link at work on Monday.
NYer, in that case, let me post an excerpt for you, (I believe this is OK with FR policy since I gave the link)....quote below:
Just when you thought it was safe to change the channel from EWTN
Get ready, the mainstream liberal media will be bombarding the airwaves, internet and blogosphere with the rantings and ravings of the heterodox spin doctors and dissident pundits once B16 lands on US soil.
Dan Rather may be retired, but CBS, ABC, NBC, and of course CNN will go to their usual pool of Catholic malcontents, miscreants and recalcitrants to offer their ‘balanced’ view lest anyone suspect for a moment the secular media would give Pope Benedict or the Catholic Church a free ride. The shrinking minority of the so-called ‘loyal opposition’ (a true oxymoron) will be given free air time during the papal visit as has been done in the past during the reign of JP2.
Sister Joan Chittester, OSB, who opined that the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI was the equivalent of a ‘spiritual tsunami’ will be the most conspicuous ‘expert’ consulted by the social progressive, secular humanist media elite. Then of course, Father Thomas Reese (everyone’s favorite Jesuit) and Fr. Richard McBrien (who will mysteriously find and wear his clerical attire while on camera, but just on papal visits, mind you) will be given a chance to spew their ‘side’ of the story.
American media thinks it is being ‘fair’ when they give equal time to theological dissenters just as if this were the Democratic response to the Republican President’s State of the Union Address.
There is no such thing as ‘loyal opposition’ when it comes to TRUTH, be it doctrinal or moral. Science does not tolerate contradiction. Either 2 + 2 = 4 is true or it is false. It CANNOT be both. Either the Pope and Magisterium are correct or they are false. Since the dissenters contradict the authentic teaching authority of the Church, they oppose God, the source of Revelation. They oppose the Son of God Who founded the Church on Peter and the Apostles (and their successors the pope and bishops in union with him)
Voice of the Faithful and We Are Church and every Tom, Dick and Harry lapsed Catholic will find a microphone and camera, just wait and see....
Thanks again for the post. We know what’s coming. Any thoughts on how to counteract it? BTW - EWTN is offering professional commentators to assist the MSM. I think my odds of winning the NYS lottery are greater than that the MSM will take advantage of EWTN’s offer.
Counteracting the misinformation of MSM regarding the Pope, Church doctrine, etc...good point!
Catholic Freepers, who are internet savvy, should be at the ready. It’s easy in a matter of minutes to get specific details of the Catechism or Canon Law with a Google search. Many Catholic Freepers seem to me to already be very expert and erudite in knowledge of the Church, the Pope and his writings.
What if we all informally agree to work together, and as soon as someone hears a horrendous error on CNN or in the NYT, post it to FR (”Catholic Caucus” maybe?). Then we all could email or call the offender with the CORRECT info as soon as possible. Perhaps even suggesting they contact EWTN for a more accurate explanation of the topic, and giving the phone and email there.
I think 50% of MSM Catholic-bashing will be intentional, but the other 50% will occur because they simply don’t know that the people they are interviewing are not “orthodox” Catholics, or that doctrines are not being explained properly. If a news source gets several emails in immediate response to an error, the ones that really do want to report well will look into the matter and perhaps publish/air the correction.
Well.....I can hope. This may be a week to be a bit “Church Militant”.
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