Pope Francis to journalists: ‘be communicators of hope’

“Put personal and collective responsibility towards others at the heart of communication” at a time “characterized by disinformation and polarization, as a few centres of power control an unprecedented mass of data and information”. These are the opening lines of Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of Social Communications, on the eve of the first major Jubilee event specifically dedicated to journalists, who are called to be “communicators of hope.” “In the face of the astonishing achievements of technology, I encourage you to care for your heart, your interior life”, the Pope’s guidance to the faithful.
“Too often today, communication generates not hope, but fear and despair, prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred”,
Francis denounces, with a renewed inviation to “disarm” communication and to “purify it of aggressiveness”: “All too often it simplifies reality in order to provoke instinctive reactions; it uses words like a razor; it even uses false or artfully distorted information to send messages designed to agitate, provoke or hurt.” “It never helps to reduce reality to slogans”, the Pope cautions: “All of us see how – from television talk shows to verbal attacks on social media – there is a risk that the paradigm of competition, opposition, the will to dominate and possess, and the manipulation of public opinion will prevail.” Not to mention the fact that digital systems “modify our perception of reality”, by means of a “programmed dispersion of attention.” In un this context, “identifying an “enemy” to lash out against thus appears indispensable as a way of asserting ourselves. Yet when others become our ‘enemies’, when we disregard their individuality and dignity in order to mock and deride them, we also lose the possibility of generating hope.”. All conflicts “start when individual faces melt away and disappear”, the Pope’s quotation from Don Tonino Bello. For the Holy Father, “we must not surrender to this mindset”, although “hope is not something easy.”
For communicators, the ideal style is to be found in the First Letter of Peter:
“In your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence”. “Christian communication – but I would also say communication in general – should be steeped in gentleness and closeness.” “I dream of a communication capable of making us fellow travelers, walking alongside our brothers and sisters and encouraging them to hope in these troubled times”, reads the Message of the Holy Father. “A communication capable of speaking to the heart, arousing not passionate reactions of defensiveness and anger, but attitudes of openness and friendship. A communication capable of focusing on beauty and hope even in the midst of apparently desperate situations, and generating commitment, empathy and concern for others. A communication that can help us in recognizing the dignity of each human being, and in working together to care for our common home. I dream of a communication that does not peddle illusions or fears, but is able to give reasons for hope.” To do this,
“We must be healed of our ‘diseases’ of self-promotion and self-absorption, and avoid the risk of shouting over others in order to make our voices heard.”
A good communicator “ensures that those who listen, read or watch can be involved, can draw close, can get in touch with the best part of themselves and enter with these attitudes into the stories told.” The Pope thus The Pope then delves into the everyday activities of journalists, exhorting them “to discover and
make known the many stories of goodness hidden in the folds of the news,
imitating those gold-prospectors who tirelessly sift the sand in search of a tiny nugget”, to help the world “be a little less deaf to the cry of the poor, a little less indifferent, a little less closed in on itself”, so as to find “those glimmers of goodness that inspire us to hope.” “The Jubilee has many social implications”, Francis points out: “We can think, for example, of its message of mercy and hope for those who live in prisons, or its call for closeness and tenderness towards those who suffer and are on the margins.”
Drawing on the theme of his latest encyclical, ‘Dilexit nos’, the Pope outlines a set of guidelines for communicators:
“Be meek and never forget the faces of other people; speak to the hearts of the women and men whom you serve in carrying out your work. Do not allow instinctive reactions to guide your communication. Always spread hope, even when it is difficult, even when it costs, even when it seems not to bear fruit. Try to promote a communication that can heal the wounds of our humanity.
Make room for the heartfelt trust that, like a slender but resistant flower, does not succumb to the ravages of life, but blossoms and grows in the most unexpected places. It is there in the hope of those mothers who daily pray to see their children return from the trenches of a conflict, and in the hope of those fathers who emigrate at great risk in search of a better future. It is also there in the hope of those children who somehow manage to play, laugh and believe in life even amid the debris of war and in the impoverished streets of favelas. Be witnesses and promoters of a non-aggressive communication; help to spread a culture of care, build bridges and break down the visible and invisible barriers of the present time. Tell stories steeped in hope, be concerned about our common destiny and strive to write together the history of our future.”
(Fonte: AgenSIR – News archiviata in #TeleradioNews ♥ il tuo sito web © Diritti riservati all’autore)