Vatican II & News Media

What's new?

I asked my friend what's something "new" she's learned recently. She told me she couldn't think of anything new that she's learned recently.

It so happens she's been summering with her elderly relatives. She has to watch whatever they choose to watch on television. 

Which is cable news. 24/7.

Well that’s powerful testimony!

What might this say about the 24/7 news monster? Yes—monster! 

The news is important, of course. News can have educational value, of course.

But the gargantuan news complex is cacophonous. When is it news and when is it noise? In C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, is not the devil's kingdom referred to as a "kingdom of noise"?

Inter mirifica

Thankfully, we are not left without guidance. 

Our Catholic faith tells us to be responsible and upright in our production and consumption of news. In 1963 the Second Vatican Council issued Inter mirifica, aka the Decree on the Media of Social Communications. 

The Decree recognizes the importance of media: "All the children of the Church should join, without delay and with the greatest effort in a common work to make effective use of the media of social communication in various apostolic endeavors, as circumstances and conditions demand" (Inter mirifica, n. 13).

The Decree tells us to be discerning in our media diet: "Those who make use of the media of communications, especially the young, should take steps to accustom themselves to moderation and self-control in their regard." (Inter mirifica, n. 10).

Peace

I remember a relative of mine who kept the news on television at night before she went to sleep. She would turn it on again the very next morning. She said she didn't want to miss anything. 

I thought it sounded like a miserable way to live. Our Father does not want us to live that way.

When I wanted an anti-anxiety Bible verse to conclude this post, there was a bounty from which to choose! 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." John 14:27 NRSVCE

Source

Paul VI, Pope. Inter mirifica [Decree on the Media of Social Communications]. December 4, 1963. The Holy See. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19631204_inter-mirifica_en.html.