"The J.C. Survey" - Are Reporters Afraid of Christ?

Julia Duin has an extremely interesting post over at the Washington Times Papal Visit blog, regarding one reporter's feeling that it's "incredulous" that she would have to enter "ChristOurHope" in as the I.D. to gain access to the media materials online. Reminder: The Pope and the USCCB are Catholic.

This reminds me of a story from covering World Youth Day in Cologne. During the boat trip that I blogged about earlier, where all of the media were stuck on a boat separate from the Pope's boat, media personnel were reduced to interviewing one another about the Pope's trip down the river. A Canadian radio journalist asked if she could ask me some questions.

"Sure," I replied.

The interview began normally enough, with questions about who I was and the outlet I worked for. Then discussion turned to the Pope's arrival.

She asked, "Why would he come on a boat?"

"Well, there's a precedent," I responded. "The Pope represents Jesus Christ, and Christ himself spent some time on boats, even preaching from a boat."

At the very mention of Christ, I could see something in the reporter's eyes change. After I answered the question, she thanked me, shut off her recorder, and concluded the interview (which I suspect was never used on air).

That story got me to thinking about something.

Recently, I conducted a very unscientific survey - I'm calling the J.C. Survey - of the news articles that have so far appeared on the Papal visit. Amidst so much of the coverage of "politics and the Pope," "the Mystery man," the "WOCHA" mantra, and "the CUA address," I wondered how many articles even bother to mention the theme of the Pope's Journey - "Christ is Our Hope," or mention Jesus Christ, since that is the primary focus of Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church?

Curiously enough, of the approximately 20 random articles that I surveyed, not one of them mentioned the theme of the Pope's visit - the very words the reporter above didn't want to type into her computer for media access - "Christ is Our Hope." Of the same 20 articles, about 50% of them reference Jesus Christ or Christian, but usually by way of a quote from someone who is describing the Pope or what the Pope will say or do while he's here. That's an interesting observation, don't you think?

Duin also notes in her post that, "there's been a lot of gnashing of teeth from those who didn't get the spots they wanted."

I had an interesting phone call today from a reporter with a large paper whom shall remain nameless. She told me about some publications who were unhappy because they received either one or no spots. The truth is, no one is ever completely happy with the assignments that they receive. We always want more - myself included. But, with more than 5,000 media applying for only 1,100 spots, it's simply not possible. We need to be happy with whatever we get and roll with it.

The Catholic League Weighs In on Media Expectations for the Pope's Visit

I have a similar article coming out in the National Catholic Register regarding media expectations for the papal visit, but the Catholic League has a press release from its president Bill Donohue sharing what they expect during the Pope's April visit.

Here's Donohue's statement:

“Look for Pope Benedict XVI to be compared unfavorably to his predecessor, John Paul II. All of a sudden, those who had no use for Pope John Paul II will now anoint him a positive force, the purpose of which is to discredit Benedict. Here’s what they will say.

“The theme will be interfaith dialogue. Unlike his predecessor, they will say, this pope has set back relations with Protestants, Jews and Muslims. He will be castigated for restating Catholic teaching on salvation and for challenging theological relativism.

The green light given to the Latin Mass will be seen as another step backwards. And calling attention to the human rights deficit that marks Islam will be the subject of more aspersions. In short, he will be blamed for turning back the clock.

“Silly surveys which lump non-practicing Catholics with practicing Catholics will show that many Catholics would not resist married priests or women priests. What will not be reported is that almost none of them care one way or the other—their allegiance to Catholicism does not turn on such matters.

Some will try to slam the pope for the sex abuse scandal, as if he somehow approved it (he actually used some of the most condemnatory language of anyone when he called molesting priests ‘filth’). What will not be reported is the fact that for the year 2007, .01 percent of the more than 40,000 priests in the U.S. had an allegation made against them for violating someone under the age of 18 (want to compare that with public school teachers anyone?).

“Catholics should be proud that they have an intellectual heavyweight in Pope Benedict XVI, one who could run circles around his most vociferous critics.”

"WOCHA" Sighting

The interview questions in this interview, from the Boston Globe, reads like every tired cliche that's ever been written about Pope Benedict and the Church. In its title, it describes Pope Benedict as a "more complex pope." It uses language- specifically "liberal" and "conservative" - which is not correct in explaining the Church. Not surprisingly, it also engages in the "WOCHA mantra." Thankfully, it's salvaged by the intelligent responses of Francesco Cesareo, president of Assumption College.

Here's a sample question and response:

Q. Do you expect anything of lasting significance to come out of the pope's visit, or is this more a show-the-flag tour?

A. A pope's visit is not simply for rallying the troops. [It's] meant to encourage the faithful living out the Gospel, making a connection between the faithful and the pope in terms of the unity of the church throughout the world. It always has an important impact

Here's where the Globe tries to stress the cliche that there's a disconnect between the Church and American Catholics, and the "WOCHA mantra" rears its ugly head.

Q. In his book "The Faithful," Boston College's James O'Toole predicts that American Catholics will "continue their ambivalent relationship to the papacy," loyal to it, yet often disregarding its teachings.

A. That's where the value of a visit of the pope comes into play. It allows at least for the faithful to think about their commitment, how they want to live out their faith, to think about the church in more an international scope than national or individualistic. I wouldn't necessarily agree that American Catholics overall are ambivalent. We have a vibrant church that strives to be faithful.

Q. You would not disagree that American Catholics are going to still practice artificial contraception and divorce and disagree with the pope on various matters in large numbers?

A. No, I wouldn't say that.

Peter Steinfels offers his take on the cliched-media coverage in this article at the New York Times.

The Media Themes We've Seen So Far...

Let's recount the ways that the general media has so far covered the Pope and his upcoming visit. Generally, the media portrayals have fallen into these broad categories:

"He's coming to deliver a stern message"

"He's no JP II..."

"He's a mystery"

And

"He and the Church he represents is distant from most American Catholics"

Amy Welborn presents a manifesto on the subject in this post, saying:

"American press coverage of the papacy has had a single overriding theme for twenty-five years: the dissonance between what the Pope represents and the way American Catholics actually live their lives.

It’s worth talking about those who disagree with Pope Benedict. But it’s also worth, in the reporting of those differences, pushing those who disagree to account for the specifics of their reasoning, in the context of an understanding of what the role of the papacy actually is vis-a-vis Catholic teaching.

And it’s also worth - and perhaps pretty interesting - talking to those who are inspired by Pope Benedict and are learning from him: laity, religious, priests and bishops alike. Seminarians. Book-buyers. Internet-discussion participants.

I’m not saying there’s not a gap in understanding. There is.  But what’s lacking is an informed, critical examination of that gap, as well as a look at the other side - who’s buying all those Pope Benedict books…and why? Who are these people who are shifting their thinking on liturgy because of what they’re reading and seeing from Pope Benedict? There are Protestants who have appreciated Pope Benedict’s theological work for decades. Who are they and what do they appreciate in him?

Throw the old template away. It’s worn out and obscures more than it clarifies. Clean out the Rolodex and replenish it with new names. Tell us something we don’t already know.

That is, I think what it’s called, isn’t it?

News?

When I was working on research for my book "Young and Catholic: The Face of Tomorrow's Church," I first discovered the great truth in what Welborn's saying.

On one hand, I was confronted with all the media stories that portray young people as disassociated, disaffected, and disconnected with their faith; while on the other hand, at events such as World Youth Day and the March for Life, and local events throughout the country, I was confronted with the reality that there are a great many young people who are engaged in their faith. In my book, I attempted to share that great untold story - the "Good News" if you will - by interviewing hundreds of young adults and asking them what motivated them to live their faith "out loud."

The result: The book was completely ignored by the secular media. Yet, I'm not alone in sharing a story that's seldom explored. Colleen Carroll Campbell told a similar story in "The Young Faithful." Naomi Schaefer-Riley told it in "God on the Quad," and Dave Hartline tells it in his recent "The Tide is Turning Toward Catholicism." 

Of Presidents and Popes

This Religion News Service article from the Press-Telegram isn't bashful about using the "WOCHA" mantra. Although the article itself is about the issue of the war in Iraq, it uses the mantra in its opening line to suggest that Pope Benedict and President Bush, who will be meeting in April, have much in common.

The article then goes on to explain the difference of opinion between the two regarding the war in Iraq and the expectation that it will be one of the topics of discussion between the two.

It also contains this interesting historical detail about meetings between Presidents and Popes.

"Meetings between popes and sitting U.S. presidents have become fairly common over the past four decades.

Shortly after the end of World War I, during a tour of Europe, Woodrow Wilson became the first U.S. president to meet with a pope while in office when he had an audience with Pope Benedict XV.

The next papal audience for a sitting U.S. president wouldn't come for another 40 years, when Dwight Eisenhower met in Rome with Pope John XXIII.

Since then, every U.S. president has met with the pope. Ronald Reagan met seven times and Bill Clinton four with Pope John Paul II. The upcoming papal meeting will be the fifth for Bush."

 

  

 

For more history, the Baxter Bulletin has this article on past papal visits to the United States. It offers a nice recap of Pope John Paul II's visits to the U.S.

GetReligion Hits the Nail Squarely on the Head

Religion reporter Terry Mattingly hits the nail squarely on the head in his recent entry over at GetReligion.org titled Waiting for the "real" pope stuff. Reporters cannot help but read politics into the pope's visit and remarks, coming as he is in the midst of an election year. Mattingly speculates on what issues the media will make the "real" issue.

Writes Mattingly, "If he talks about poverty and health, that will impact discussions of national health care, which may be seen as a covert hint to Catholic swing voters in Ohio that they can, under Vatican II, vote for Bill and Hillary Clinton with a clear conscience despite their records on other life and death issues. You see how it works? Heaven help us all if he mentions the environment. Even if he speaks on the nature of the priesthood, that text will be parsed for language that will have an impact on discussion of gay rights. Will he meet with the presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church? Same thing.

There is also a chance that the “real” issue may be the state of Catholic higher education. No, really. The pope has requested a meeting with top Catholic academic leaders."

Another "WOCHA" Alert

WNBC says that it's going to provide the service of "presenting stories on air and online about [Benedict's] papacy, the state of the Catholic Church in America, and the preparations for the historic visit." If this article is any indication of what they'll be providing, they're a source you may just want to pass up. This one claims to take a "closer look at Benedict."

It trots out the familiar information..."his reputation preceded him," he was "known as the German Shepherd," a "conservative guardian and fierce defender of church doctrine," a member of the Hitler youth, "not everybody has liked what Benedict has had to say," he's offended Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Jews, he has "solidly reaffirmed the church's position" on sexual morality, abortion, and marriage priests.

Pope Benedict XVI has been in office for three years. He's written extensively, both as Cardinal and now as Pope. Yet, not once does the article attempt to take a closer look at Pope Benedict by actually looking at what he's said or written. Rather, it tries to paint the Pope as antiquated. It mentions the subject of his first encyclical (note how the article improperly uses the word "Encyclical" without an explanation), but doesn't mention it's title, or the fact that he's released a second encyclical. Given all the media coverage of Democratic presidential contender Barrack Obama's message of hope, one would think that the topic of the Pope's second encyclical might be of interest. The most positive thing the article seems to say is that his audiences in Rome are drawing more people than Pope John Paul II. The article says that people went to "see" Pope John Paul II, but they're going to Rome to "listen" to Pope Benedict.

The article ends with this comment from Jay Duller, a member of youth ministry at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Manhattan. “I don’t think he’s as accessible as his predecessor, John Paul II,” Duller said. “I’m really looking forward to his visit, and hearing what he has to say.”

The "WOCHA" Mantra Has Officially Begun

I was wondering how long it would take before the "WOCHA" (Women's Ordination, Contraception, Homosexuality, Abortion) mantra would begin. Five weeks out from the Pope's visit, it looks like Cleveland.com is the first to begin the mantra with this story juxtaposing American disagreements over contraception with the Church's teachings. I coined this term during World Youth Day in Cologne after witnessing reporter after reporter ask young Catholics the same question..."Do you agree with the Church's teaching on...(Insert social topic here)?"

The story does much to show the disagreements, but little to clear them up by actually reporting what it is that the Church teaches, and more importantly, why. It's so completely predictable.

Yesterday, I spoke with Tim Graham, director of media analysis with the

Research

Center

. They compiled a special report on the media’s coverage of Pope John Paul II titled “The Life of John Paul II: Shepherd of Souls or Antiquated Authoritarian.”

“What I expect we’ll see is a set of polls that will say that American Catholics as a whole disagree with Pope Benedict on a number of things,” said Graham. “They love to poll Catholics because the sample size is large enough, but they don’t separate out for how many of those they are polling have been inside of a Catholic Church within the last decade.”

“When the media interviews these people, they want to see the Church as out of touch,” said Graham. “Rather, it’s these people they use who are out of touch with the Church.”

Media