Seminar in Rome Hosted to Discuss The Demands of Catholic Journalism

Its theme was “Dialogue, Respect and Freedom of Expression in the Public Arena.”

The participants from all over the world touched on issues such as polarization, fake news, defamation and how to promote values through the media.  A true challenge!

Archbishop Eamon Martin, archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland, was the first to speak, describing the challenge the Church faces in the digital era.

Michael Warsaw, Chairman of the Board and CEO of EWTN Global Catholic Network, gave a keynote speech on fake news and the responsibility of journalists on the final day of the conference. Warsaw pointed to a recent example of a fake story that gained a lot of steam during the U.S. presidential election of 2016.

During the campaign season, a fake news site published an article titled “Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement,” which gained more than 100,000 comments, shares, and reactions on Facebook alone, and nearly 1 million Facebook engagements, making it “the single biggest fake news hit of the U.S. Election.”

Shortly after, another fake news article appeared saying Pope Francis had endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, he said, noting that it is thanks to articles like this that modern society has come to be known as the “post-truth” or “post-fact” world. A meaningless term used for “lie”?

In fact, the “post-truth” era describes the state of a society that been numbed and grown indifferent to the principle of non-contradiction. What does a thing’s truth or falseness matter, so long as it stirs up emotion and forges an opinion?

“As Catholic communicators and media, we are called to do our part to be truth tellers,” concluded the CEO of EWTN, and “we must take heart in knowing that we are not the first Catholics to live in a 'post truth' era.”

Without questioning the good intentions of the speakers, we must recall that all information is either true or false, and there is no such thing as post-truth. As for stirring up emotion and manipulating opinion, men have been doing both since the beginning of time. Or at least ever since the Greek democracy under which Alcibiades corrupted the ideal of Pericles. Closer to our times, the Enlightenment – thanks to Jean-Jacques Rousseau – developed the theory of the role of opinion in the work of the legislator and in the creation of laws. During the 20th century, propaganda began to reach the masses. Today, with social networks and technology, the spreading of lies and the manipulation of minds have taken on a whole new dimension. Their effects have without a doubt become more immediate and spectacular. But truth is always opposed to error, and it is up to the sons of Light to be stronger than the sons of darkness.