‘Role of media crucial in today’s context’
Excerpts of the speech by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the 36th SIGNIS Salutation 2012
The Church, our mother, is particularly interested in those which directly touch man's spirit and which have opened up new avenues of easy communication of all kinds of news, of ideas and orientations. Chief among them are those means of communication which of their nature can reach and influence not merely single individuals but the very masses and even the whole of human society. These are the press, the cinema, radio, television and others of a like nature. These can rightly be called "the means of social communication".
His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith quoted the above section from Inter Mirifica, 1 when he addressed the distinguished gathering at the SIGNIS awards ceremony in Colombo last week.
“The Inter Mirifica was the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Media of Social Communications issued on December 4, 1963 but long before that the Catholic Church had focussed its attention on the role of the media and the power it possessed. The first official decree on social communication was recorded by the Catholic Church on June 29, 1936 in Vigilanti Cura – the Encyclical of Pope Pius XI.
These factors underline the importance and concern of the Catholic Church towards the communication media. Today the SIGNIS Awards Ceremony alone is proof that the commitment of the Church has increased manifold compared to the past. Our objective is to encourage, motivate and pay tribute to mediamen of reputation.
MASSCOMMUNICATION ANDVALUES
Social communication can be likened to a knife. In as much as it can transmit valuable information to the receivers, it can also transmit contents with immoral values. Therefore it is crucial for the media to imbibe an objective and critical perspective to guide the people on the right track. It is obvious that there has been a decline in moral standards in many areas of life today and this decline is the cause of profound concern to all honest men. It is easy to find evidence of this decline in all the means of social communication. But how far these means must be blamed for the decline is open to question. Many responsible men hold that these means are only a reflection of what already exists in society. Others hold that they increase and spread those tendencies and that, by making them commonplace, lead to their gradual acceptance. And still others would put most of the blame squarely upon the means of social communication. What is certainly true is that the weakness lies in society itself and that the attempt to restore standards must involve the whole of society, its parents, teachers, pastors and all who care about the common good. In this attempt the means of social communication have no small part to play.
FREEDOMOF EXPRESSION
Modern man cannot do without information that is full, consistent, accurate and true. Without it, he cannot understand the perpetually changing world in which he lives nor be able to adapt himself to the real situation. This adaptation calls for frequent decisions that should be made with a full knowledge of events. Only in this way can he assume a responsible and active role in his community and be a part of its economic, political, cultural and religious life.
With the right to be informed goes the duty to seek information. Information does not simply occur; it has to be sought. On the other hand, in order to get it, the man who wants information must have access to the varied means of social communication. In this way he can freely choose whatever means best suit his needs both personal and social. It is futile to talk about the right to information if a variety of the sources for it are not made available.
But the right to information is not limitless. It has to be reconciled with other existing rights. There is the right of privacy, which protects the private life of families and individuals. There is the right of secrecy, which obtains if necessity or professional duty or the common good itself requires it. Indeed, whenever public good is at stake, discretion and discrimination and careful judgement should be used in the preparation of news. Therefore I call upon all those involved in any form of social communication to be extra vigilant about what they create and convey. You must ensure that no harm befalls our dear motherland by such works and ensure that no attempt is even discreetly to create any form of rift or misunderstanding among people, factions, ethnicities or religious groups. Any attempt to suppress the freedom of the media will always be condemned by us. The right to information must be strengthened while probes into abducted or missing journalists should be expedited and culprits brought to book. I wish to make this plea to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the government and the opposition parties.