"ETHICS IN COMMUNICATIONS"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2000 (VIS) - "Ethics in Communications" is the title of the document published today by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. It is signed by Archbishop John Foley and Bishop Pierfranco Pastore, respectively president and secretary of the council, and dated June 4, 2000, the Jubilee Day for Journalists.

Following are excerpts from the booklet which was published in Italian, English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese:

I. INTRODUCTION

"Great good and great evil come from the use people make of the media of social communication. ... 'Media' ... are not blind forces of nature beyond human control. ... People choose whether to use the media for good or evil ends, in a good or evil way. ... These choices, central to the ethical question, are made not only by those who receive communication ' viewers, listeners, readers ' but especially by those who control the instruments of social communication and determine their structures, policies, and content."

"Technological change rapidly is making the media of communication even more pervasive and powerful. ... The range and diversity of media accessible to people in well-to-do countries already are astonishing. ... The contents of this vast outpouring range from hard news to pure entertainment, prayer to pornography, contemplation to violence. ... Not even those who shun the media can avoid contact with others who are deeply influenced by them.

"The Church has reasons of her own for being interested in the means of social communication. Viewed in the light of faith, the history of human communication can be seen as a long journey from Babel ... to Pentecost and the gift of tongues."

"The Church's approach to the means of social communication is fundamentally positive, encouraging. ... She desires to support those who are professionally involved in communication by setting out positive principles to assist them in their work. Most professional communicators desire to use their talents to serve the human family, and are troubled by the growing economic and ideological pressures to lower ethical standards present in many sectors of the media."

"The Church brings several things to this conversation; ... a long tradition of moral wisdom, rooted in divine revelation and human reflection. ... The Church also brings something else to the conversation. Her special contribution to human affairs, including the world of social communication, is 'precisely her vision of the dignity of the person revealed in all its fullness in the mystery of the Incarnate Word'."

II. SOCIAL COMMUNICATION THAT SERVES THE HUMAN PERSON

"The Pastoral Instruction on Social Communications 'Communio et Progressio' makes it clear that the media are called to serve human dignity by helping people live well and function as persons in community. ... We note here ... some economic, political, cultural, educational, and religious benefits.

"Economic. ... Today's complex national and international economic systems could not function without the media. Remove them, and crucial economic structures would collapse, with great harm to countless people and to society."

"Political. Social communication benefits society by facilitating informed citizen participation in the political process. ... Media are indispensable in today's democratic societies. They supply information about issues and events, office holders and candidates for office. They enable leaders to communicate quickly and directly with the public about urgent matters."

"Cultural. The means of social communication offer people access to literature, drama, music, and art otherwise unavailable to them, and so promote human development in respect to knowledge and wisdom and beauty. ... Media also make it possible for ethnic groups to cherish and celebrate their cultural traditions."

"Educational. The media are important tools of education in many contexts, from school to workplace, and at many stages in life. ... The instruments of communication, including the Internet, conquer barriers of distance and isolation, bringing learning opportunities to villagers in remote areas, cloistered religious, the home-bound, prisoners, and many others.

"Religious. Many people's religious lives are greatly enriched through the media. They carry news and information about religious events, ideas, and personalities; they serve as vehicles for evangelization and catechesis."

"In all these settings ' economic, political, cultural, educational, religious ' as well as others, the media can be used to build and sustain human community."

III. SOCIAL COMMUNICATION THAT VIOLATES THE GOOD OF THE PERSON

"The media also can be used to block community and injure the integral good of persons. ... Abuses exist in each of the areas just mentioned.

"Economic. The media sometimes are used to build and sustain economic systems that serve acquisitiveness and greed. Neoliberalism is a case in point: 'Based on a purely economic conception of man', it 'considers profit and the law of the market as its only parameters, to the detriment of the dignity of and the respect due to individuals and peoples.' ... The process of globalization 'can create unusual opportunities for greater prosperity', ... but ... some nations and peoples suffer exploitation and marginalization. ... Faced with grave injustices, it is not enough for communicators simply to say that their job is to report things as they are. That undoubtedly is their job. But some instances of human suffering are largely ignored by media even as others are reported; and insofar as this reflects a decision by communicators, it reflects indefensible selectivity."

"Political. Unscrupulous politicians use media for demagoguery and deception in support of unjust policies and oppressive regimes. They misrepresent opponents and systematically distort and suppress the truth by propaganda and 'spin.' ... Even in countries with democratic systems, it is all too common for political leaders to manipulate public opinion through the media instead of fostering informed participation in the political process. ... Often, too, the media popularize the ethical relativism and utilitarianism that underlie today's culture of death."

"Cultural. Critics frequently decry the superficiality and bad taste of media. ... It is no excuse to say the media reflect popular standards; for they also powerfully influence popular standards and so have a serious duty to uplift, not degrade, them. ... On the international level, traditional cultural expressions are virtually excluded from access to popular media in some places and face extinction; meanwhile the values of affluent, secularized societies increasingly supplant the traditional values of societies less wealthy and powerful. ... Communication across cultural lines is desirable."

"Educational. Instead of promoting learning, media can distract people and cause them to waste time. Children and young people are especially harmed in this way, but adults also suffer from exposure to banal, trashy presentations. ... Sometimes, too, media are used as tools of indoctrination, with the aim of controlling what people know and denying them access to information the authorities do not want them to have."

"Religious. In the relationship between the means of social communication and religion there are temptations on both sides. On the side of the media, these include ignoring or marginalizing religious ideas and experience; treating religion with incomprehension, perhaps even contempt, as an object of curiosity that does not merit serious attention; promoting religious fads at the expense of traditional faith; treating legitimate religious groups with hostility etc. ... The temptations on the side of religion include taking an exclusively judgmental and negative view of media; ... presenting religious messages in an emotional, manipulative style; ... using media as instruments for control and domination; practicing unnecessary secrecy and otherwise offending against truth."

"In short, the media can be used for good or for evil ' it is a matter of choice."

IV. SOME RELEVANT ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

"Today especially, the international community and international communications interests should take a generous and inclusive approach to nations and regions where what the means of social communication do ' or fail to do ' bears a share of the blame for the perpetuation of evils like poverty, illiteracy, political repression and violations of human rights, intergroup and interreligious conflicts, and the suppression of indigenous cultures."

"The presumption should always be in favor of freedom of expression. ... There are obvious instances ' for example, libel and slander, messages that seek to foster hatred and conflict among individuals and groups, obscenity and pornography, the morbid depiction of violence ' where no right to communicate exists. Plainly, too, free expression should always observe principles like truth, fairness, and respect for privacy."

"Decisions about media content and policy should not be left only to the market and to economic factors ' profits ' since these cannot be counted on to safeguard either the public interest as a whole or, especially, the legitimate interests of minorities."

"The first duty of recipients of social communication is to be discerning and selective. They should inform themselves about media ' their structures, mode of operation, contents ' and make responsible choices, according to ethically sound criteria, about what to read or watch or listen to. ... Through her schools and formation programs the Church should provide media education of this kind. ... For their children's sake, as well as their own, parents must learn and practice the skills of discerning viewers and listeners and readers, acting as models of prudent use of media in the home."

"Catholics, like other citizens, have the right of free expression, including the right of access to the media for this purpose. ... No one, however, has a right to speak for the Church, or imply he or she does, unless properly designated; and personal opinions should not be presented as the Church's teaching."

V. CONCLUSION

"Will new technology serve all nations and peoples, while respecting the cultural traditions of each; or will it be a tool to enrich the rich and empower the powerful? We have to choose. The means of communication also can be used to separate and isolate. ... In the world of media, moreover, the inherent difficulties of communicating often are magnified by ideology, by the desire for profit and political control, by rivalries and conflicts between groups, and by other social ills."

"The Christian communicator in particular has a prophetic task, a vocation: to speak out against the false gods and idols of the day ' materialism, hedonism, consumerism, narrow nationalism, and the rest ' holding up for all to see a body of moral truth based on human dignity and rights, the preferential option for the poor, the universal destination of goods, love of enemies, and unconditional respect for all human life from conception to natural death."

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