What "plays in Peoria," however, is already part of a trend unlikely to slow: Bishops are cutting print publications or shuttering operations altogether, only to replace diocesan newspapers with soft-news magazines, websites and public relations content.

Meanwhile, new online, niche and sometimes ideological Catholic media are filling the gap.

The cuts to local Catholic media reflect wider journalistic trends of financially motivated decisions.

The week after Peoria's announcement, the Los Angeles Times laid off more than 20% of its newsroom, and Sports Illustrated announced it was terminating "almost all" its staff — leading one commentator to call it "a week from hell in media."

Catholic media — especially diocesan papers that provide local coverage and often serve as the vehicle for a bishop's regular column — are not exempt from the larger forces affecting journalism, experts say.

In addition, they are negatively impacted by the decline in religious affiliation and participation in the U.S. and by competition from new Catholic media.

In fact, the Peoria paper wasn't the only diocesan publication to cease operations at the end of 2023.

The Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, whose first Catholic newspaper dates to the 19th century, published the last issue of The Compass at the end of December.

A year earlier, the country's largest diocesan newspaper, Catholic New York, shut down, just as the U.S. bishops' conference closed its national operations of Catholic News Service.

Other recent closures include Seattle's paper in 2013, Akron's in 2015 and Detroit's in 2018.

The number of Catholic newspapers in the U.S. dropped from 196 in 2006 to 118 in 2020, according to the Catholic Media Association.

The organisation's current directory lists 84 newspapers as members.

"We need to take a step back and look at why this is not working," said Helen Osman, president of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication.

"This goes beyond just Catholic journalism. In this country we have so devalued the idea of local journalism that we're in a big hole."

Although she is frustrated by the loss of quality diocesan newspapers, Osman, who has worked in Catholic media and communication for nearly 40 years, says change is inevitable — and clearly already underway.

"I don't think the practice and the art of journalism will change, but I think our understanding of how we do it in the church may change," she said.

"We're at a point in this country where we need to rethink the business model of journalism and its place in the community.

"When we do it best, whether Catholic or otherwise, local journalism builds up the common good." Continue reading

I would get the paper for my dad from the driveway every morning. Standing in bare feet on the concrete, I'd open it and scan the headlines before I brought it inside.

My addiction to news, in other words, is longstanding, and I've been this way for decades: reading, listening, watching, producing.

Getting up with it in the morning. Inviting it into bed at night. But I have a confession to make. It is getting harder and harder to be a news junkie.

That was why I was so fascinated by a similar confession from another journalist, Amanda Ripley, in a Washington Post column titled, "I stopped reading the news. Is the problem me — or the product?"

The problem is partly me. I have consumed ever larger quantities of news because it is so easy. The internet, podcasts, my phone — news is everywhere. "The news crept into every crevice of my life," Ripley wrote. Ditto.

But part of the problem is the stories we are being told.

Ripley says we aren't equipped to handle the news, conflict, controversy, and disasters 24/7.

The nonstop coverage too often leaves us agitated and anxious, yet provides us with no hope, no way we can do something about whatever the disasters are we read about. Go through any normal newspaper (of which there are fewer and fewer) and count the anxiety-producing news stories and the anger-producing commentaries. They are overwhelming.

This is why Ripley suggests, that an estimated 40% of Americans are avoiding the news.

The news industry is in crisis.

This crisis extends to Catholic media as well.

At the recent Catholic Media Conference in Portland, Oregon, Notre Dame professor Timothy O'Malley gave a keynote address on the future of Catholic journalism.

"The Church is experiencing a crisis related to communications," he said.

This isn't a matter of switching from newsprint to Facebook. Rather, it is a crisis of authority that is afflicting church, state, and press.

The worry of all this, to paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, is that to distrust all traditional authority and news media does not mean one believes in nothing.

Rather, it becomes more likely one might believe anything.

The vacuum left in distrust's wake is filled with fake news and distorted news.

We become both more suspicious and more credulous, as recent years have shown.

This is dangerous for democracy, and it is dangerous for a Church that believes its very mission of evangelization hinges on both authority and trust.

In the world of Catholic journalism, many dioceses are replacing their papers with inspirational magazines or poorly trafficked websites.

Local Catholic news is getting harder to find. (The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is a rarity in that it supports not only a magazine of news and culture, but also newsletters, a dynamic website, and active social media.)

In both the nation — where a quarter of all newspapers have folded since 2005 — and the Church, with a 40% drop, the decline of news media suggests a crisis of involvement and engagement with long-term implications.

Without using the phrase, both O'Malley and Ripley lean in the direction of something being proposed as "constructive" or "solutions journalism."

It grows out of a concern that if all we journalists can do is describe how terrible the world is, we will continue to lose readers. We need to give people some hope, some means of responding.

For Ripley, hope is critical.

"There is a way to communicate news — including very bad news — that leaves us better off as a result," she wrote.

For O'Malley, too much of Catholic journalism has descended into "propaganda," ideological clashes, or a kind of safe parochialism that neither offends nor interests. The answer is to engage the world, not run from it or wag a finger at it.

"The Church is not a culture meant to be turned in upon herself, but a culture intended to be leaven for every dimension of human life," O'Malley said. "Our neighbours' joys and sufferings are our joys and sufferings, no matter if they're Catholic or not."

If journalism, Catholic or otherwise, is not just to survive but thrive, we need to get beyond stoking outrage or playing it safe by not outraging anybody. What we need is to give people a sense of their own agency, that there is hope, and they can contribute.

At its best, Catholic journalism has always tried to tell its story with truth, not propaganda, with charity, not scapegoating.

The question now is if this kind of journalism can still be produced and if it will have the support of both its publishers and its readers.

• Greg Erlandson - Published in Angelus News

A Catholic group in Indonesia's conflict-torn Papua province is teaching the seminarians to report on events in remote areas where there is limited access for journalists.

Rights activists often criticise Indonesia's mainstream media for reporting news based on the claims of the government and security forces but rarely accommodating Papuan voices.

The Franciscans' Secretariat for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation training drew 28 seminarians (pictured) from across Indonesia. Some will spend their pastoral year in parishes in remote areas.

The seminarians were instructed in new evangelisation through social media, news and feature writing techniques, digital security and evangelisation through short videos.

Yuliana Langowuyo, the secretariat's executive director and one of the instructors, said the training targeted Indonesian seminarians because of their vital role in the Papuan context.

They carry out their usual pastoral duties and are also expected to speak out on social issues in remote areas where access is difficult.

"They are our mainstay. We can get primary information from them, including a comparison with information from the authorities and from pro-government media.

"So far I have focused only on reflecting on those issues in the context of my vocation. Now it helps me to make these problems a concern of many people by writing about them.

"If we wait for journalists to reach remote areas, then the narrative of injustice and other humanitarian problems that occur in communities will not be able to reach the public, and policy advocacy will be more difficult."

One of the seminarians says although the time for the training was short, he found it very helpful to be able to identify issues in society that are important, have a broad impact and need to be known by many people.

As an example of the problems of education, health and malnutrition in his diocese, he says: "This training showed me how to provide good, precise, accurate and understandable information for many people."

Papua has been beset by conflict since becoming part of Indonesia in 1969, with continued resistance from armed pro-independence groups.

In the Press Freedom Index released by Indonesia's Press Council in January, Papua was in the "somewhat free" category with a score of 68.87 and ranked 33rd out of 34 provinces.

The Indonesian government continues to impose restrictions on foreign journalists visiting the region.

Source

• UCA News

My first reaction was gut-hurting laughter.

When I caught my breath, I said to the priest who had been sent to present the proposal, "Look at my face!"

It was, indeed, unprecedented to ask a non-Japanese to run a Japanese-language newspaper.

Later, I met the bishop who was the liaison with the paper and I asked him if I would have the sort of editorial freedom and authority that is usual for a newspaper editor. He replied, "So long as you don't start publishing heresy, you have that freedom. Test us."

I took the job, and shortly afterward we had the first test.

A bishop had been sued in a case that was never mentioned in any Catholic media. The only coverage was in a local secular newspaper and a Buddhist newspaper. Catholics in his diocese who knew the story were mostly cowed into silence.

When the bishop lost the suit, I told my staff that it was news, but since the whole case had been hidden from Catholics, we would have to do an article that explained its background and history.

When the reporters showed hesitancy, I assured them that the only job at risk was mine. The story went on the front page.

The day it was printed, the bishop who had told me to test the bishops happened to be in Tokyo and invited the priests who worked at the bishops' conference to join him for dinner before he headed home to his diocese.

When dessert came out, the bishop called my name. Immediately, every fork and coffee cup went down as the priests waited to hear what would come next.

"Your predecessor [who had come to the newspaper from a magazine put out by his religious order] would not have printed that story."

I replied, "My predecessor was not trying to run a newspaper."

"Yes, but we wanted him to."

Everyone went back to their dessert and coffee.

A couple of days later, a package arrived from the bishop who was the subject of the story. It contained his papers regarding the case along with a note saying that he would not appeal the verdict and that I had free use of the papers if I felt further coverage was necessary.

My mother once complained about a totally different sort of relationship between the Catholic press and a prelate in her diocesan newspaper: "There were nine pictures of the bishop on the first 11 pages!" I assume that none of the pictures illustrated an article about a lawsuit.

Catholic news sources that are objective, professional are rare

Pope Francis recently honored two journalists whose "beat" includes the Vatican. Neither works for a Church-related news agency. During the ceremony, the pope thanked all journalists who point out "what's wrong with the Church."

With few exceptions, it has been news media with no connection to the Church that have performed that service. Sexual abuse by clergy and cover-ups by those in positions of responsibility have been spotlighted by secular media.

There are other stories that will sooner or later be told, but probably not in Church-related media.

When independent Church-related news media have tried to present those stories, they have been attacked by those who claim to be "protecting the Church," though more often than not it is an exercise in self-defense. Non-independent sources print photos of bishops.

Catholic news sources that are objective, professional and, frankly, honest, are rare. Francis praised journalists, but the institution still does not want to see real journalism.

Two thousand years ago when there was as yet no such thing as journalism, Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of those who exercised power among and against believers. Today, that is part of the vocation of journalism.

If that doesn't happen today, if the Church's communications are just public relations, the Church and its mission suffer.

We all suffer embarrassment when, as is inevitable, corruption and scandal that have been hidden are exposed by others. The shrinking number of those who have high expectations are scandalized.

Idealists who might otherwise choose lives of service in the Church turn away from an institution that values cover-up over truth. Some leave the Church in disgust.

Compared to all that, how can Church managers claim that bad press even (or especially) when true is a problem?

The biggest problem is a loss of credibility for the true message of the Church, the Gospel.

The Church desperately needs honest, objective, professional news sources or it will be useless for the proclamation of the Gospel. Such honesty, while sometimes embarrassing, will also be confirmation to the world that we are committed to the truth and therefore worthy of some trust.

The bishops of Japan knew that presenting the whole picture of the Church is ultimately a service to the People of God and the Gospel. Should not other Church managers learn from them?

• William Grimm is a missioner and presbyter in Tokyo and is the publisher of the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News).
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

The article was premised on an analysis of app data signals that the authors allege were "correlated to Burrill's mobile device."

The signals, they write, "suggest he was at the same time engaged in serial and illicit sexual activity."

Missing in the story by The Pillar and in a subsequent response to questions about the ethics of the piece is the name of the vendor that provided the data, details about who paid to purchase the data and how it was obtained by the outlet, as well as any information on how the investigation was conducted to determine the signals were transmitted from Burrill's mobile phone.

The story also lacked any confirmation of Burill's conduct beyond the location data.

The outlet has since published two subsequent articles alleging use of hookup apps within clerical residences in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, and in the Vatican.

Experts in journalistic ethics who spoke to NCR raised multiple concerns about The Pillar article.

"Ethically this is a softball. The article is scummy," Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism at Columbia University's Journalism School, told NCR via email.

"The hack using data tracking is illicit, indefensible, and all-around contrary to journalistic ethics."

"It's redolent of the depredations of [Rupert] Murdoch's News of the World busting into private phones," he added, referencing the enterprise's 2011 hacking scandal that led to the closure of the storied tabloid and millions of dollars of litigation after it was revealed that the publication hacked into the phones of politicians and celebrities.

Although The Pillar article said there was "no evidence" to imply the priest had contact with minors, it went on to suggest that his possible consensual sexual behaviour risked the possibility of clouding his judgment on the church's handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis — another problematic leap, according to experts in journalistic ethics.

"The story casually links this case to others involving pedophile priests, but in fact, there is no evidence of that here," observed Bill Grueskin, a professor of professional practice at Columbia Journalism School.

"A good editor would have sussed out these issues, and likely eliminated the many references to unrelated cases that give the patina of criminal behaviour to a situation that lacks evidence of such conduct," Grueskin told NCR via email.

Gitlin agreed: "The sneering references to paedophilia are nothing short of vile and McCarthyite," he concluded. "Roy Cohn would be proud."

Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst for the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism school and research organization, told NCR, "The article raises a number of questions about cyber security and personal privacy and presents an alarming question of whether you can be tracked wherever you go."

Edmonds described the methods used by The Pillar as "unusual" and without any known journalistic precedent.

Flynn and Condon did not respond to NCR's requests for comment for this story.

(Editors of The Pillar have sought to compare their story to work by journalists at The New York Times to locate individuals for the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, although one of The New York Times reporters has noted that their reporting, on a criminal incident, only quoted the one individual who consented to being quoted.)

The outing of Burrill through questionable journalistic practices has sparked a contentious debate among many Catholics and for some, represents a stark departure from the "serious, responsible sober journalism about the Church, from the Church, and for the Church," that The Pillar pledged to provide when it launched on Jan. 4.

Yet while The Pillar's controversial reporting on Burrill has forced the new startup website into the national spotlight, a review of their past operations, connections of its top editors, along with undisclosed conflicts of interest and improper use of anonymous sources, reveals a history of questionable journalistic ethics.

Canon lawyers or journalists?

The Pillar was founded by its editor-in-chief J.D. Flynn and editor Ed Condon after the two resigned from EWTN-owned Catholic News Agency (CNA) in December.

At CNA, Flynn and Condon were at the helm of an agency that bills itself as being "one of the fastest-growing Catholic news providers in the world." During their tenure, the two would frequently boast of their independence from church hierarchy, their ability to uncover and report stories without fear or favor, and their accuracy and fair-mindedness in the process.

The two have also vowed to bring those same standards to their new operations. Yet while The Pillar has recently spilled considerable ink outlining allegations of sexual misconduct against one priest, including inferences of how his alleged behavior may have affected his judgment on matters related to sexual abuse of minors, their publications have not always disclosed their own professional involvement in clergy sexual abuse cases — not as journalists, but as legal advocates.

The left and right Catholic commentariat is lining up to say that @canonlawyered and I are "canon lawyers not journalists."

Meanwhile the two of us are breaking stories that make change while the chattering classes are pimping their increasingly irrelevant and partisan opinions.

— JD Flynn (@jdflynn) January 6, 2021

Both Flynn and Condon are canon lawyers. Continue reading

There have been mixed reactions to the paper's more personal apology published in the Samoa Observer on Tuesdayover the signature of the editor in chief Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa.

Let me say this is not an easy letter for me to write. Still, I feel duty-bound to write these words, since it is our duty to tell the public we serve, the truth.

The truth is that last week, we made a sad mistake when we published a story on the late Jeanine Tuivaiki, on the front page of the Sunday Samoan.

We now accept that there has been an inexcusable lapse of judgment on our part, and for that we are sincerely regretful.

Yesterday, we met with members of Jeannie Tuivaiki's family at their home at Vaiusu, where we extended our sincere apologies, and we are now thankful that we have done so.

And so to Jeanine's family we are very sorry.

To the L.G.B.T community in Samoa and abroad, we offer our humble apologies.

We want you all to know, that there is never an intention on our part to denigrate or discriminate against anyone, at any time.

Over the years, the Samoa Observer has been a strong supporter of the Fa'afafine community here in Samoa, through sponsorships and assistance with their community coverage.

Today, I sincerely apologise to our readers and members of the public, for coming out in the open this way. There is no other way to explain how it feels.

Today, I sincerely apologise to our readers and members of the public, for coming out in the open this way. There is no other way to explain how it feels.

Since the story in question was published in the Sunday Samoan, an outpouring of irate letters of criticism from here in Samoa, and abroad were received.

We want to remind that whenever we make a mistake, we apologize as soon as possible.

It follows that all the letters criticising us over the handling of this matter, are published today in this edition.

We sincerely accept that we've made a mistake

signed: Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa. Editor in Chief.

Speaking with GayNZ.com Daily News Malifa said the apology that went out on Tuesday over his name, and in which he referred to Tuivaiki as a man, was not written by him.

"I did not write that... it came in and I thought the best thing to do is put my name there. I don't know, the story came to me.... what else I can't say."

"I am the chief editor but things get past me without my knowledge, this [original] story was not written by me and I apologise because I am the editor in chief."

"And I have to take responsibility for things that are done that are not right and for which I apologise."

"I have apologised for the entire Samoa Observer organisation, all the staff reporters and everybody."

Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa says he has received angry reaction to printing the photograph from all over the world, including from his extended family.

Source

• samoaobserver.ws
• talamua.com
• gaynz.com
• Image: samoaobserver.ws

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The suspected cause of death is suicide.

The 20-year-old computer student was a regular at the Catholic Church of Taufusi.

She was discovered in a church hall on Friday morning local time.

A photograph on the front page of the Sunday Samoan depicted how she was found at the scene.

Emotions ranged from anger, sympathy, dismay and disgust.

"Those who expressed their views included lawyers, doctors, atheists, Christians, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals, friends, family' says a blog on a website called 16 Days of Activism Samoa.

"And many many many more of differing backgrounds and cultures who all saw the front page and expressed their negative feelings," the blog continues.

"What is most unfortunate about this story is that the editor of Samoa Observer wrote an editorial yesterday demanding the nation to have sympathy for Samoa Observer's battles some twenty years ago."

"Yet today victimizes a human being right on the front page."

"Hypocrisy is a very very ugly trait."

The Sunday Samoan has issued an apology to its readers.

Long serving editor-in-chief, Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa, has at times outspokenly defended human rights.
In 2000 he was named an International Press Institute Hero.

IPI World Press Freedom Heroes are journalists who have displayed tremendous courage and resilience in fighting for media freedom and the free flow of news - often at great personal risk.

Malifa was awarded the Pacific Islands News Association's Freedom of Information Award in 1994.

He received both the Commonwealth Press Union's Astor Award for Press Freedom and the Index on Censorship press freedom award in recognition of his courage and commitment to the principles of free expression.

Malifa said the photograph was placed alongside two stories about divisions in Samoa's religious communities as it appeared to have symbolic meaning.

Religious division had caused violence, "painful disunity", and suffering, he said.

"That was how it felt when that photograph showed up. It was a sad sight."

"But then behind the sadness and the pain was the image of Jesus Christ."

Malifa said it was as if the dead person was telling Prime Minister Tuilaepa, Pope Francis, and Rev. Mauga Motu, to make friends with everyone, and let there be peace.

"That was the inspiration that guided us to put that photo on the paper's front page."
"It was never to demean, vilify or denigrate."

The photograph had been circulating on Facebook for a week, he said.

Malifa ended by saying: "And so if you're offended by it still, all we can do is apologise."

The photo is no longer posted on the Samoa Observer Website.
Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• sobserver.ws
• Image: 6daysofactivismsamoa.files.wordpress.com

Laura Alari, who writes for Quotidiano Nazionale, invented stories about herself that she told priests during the sacrament of Confession.

She pretended to be a lesbian mother asking to baptise her daughter, a woman who lives with her female partner and a divorced woman who has a new partner, but receives Communion.

The newspaper series was intended as a portrait of Catholicism in the everyday lives of Italians.

The president of the Italian bishops' conference, Cardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna, said the articles "objectively constitute a grave offense against the truth of Confession".

He said they also showed a "grave lack of respect for believers".

Cardinal Caffarra recalled that the publication of the contents of a Confession is among the most grave crimes in the Church, which are under the direct competence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Bishops' conference secretary Bishop Nunzio Galantino said "this rubbish has already been done in the past".

"I find this abhorrent from an ethical point of view and unspeakable from a human point of view," he said.

The editor of one of the papers in which the articles appeared, Andrea Cangini, said protests were understandable.

But he said his paper wanted to show how the average priest reacts in such situations.

Ms Alari told the Italian bishops' newspaper Avvenire that she was aware that she was violating a sacrament.

"When the editor asked me to do this job I was very perplexed, because I am Catholic and I knew that I was violating a sacrament.

" I decided that pretending to go to Confession was the only way to understand what is happening today in the Church without filters."

She added that the problems she spoke of in Confession were real-life dilemmas faced by people she knew.

She added that she felt bad because she met "amazing priests who dedicated hours to me".

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• The Local Italy
• Avvenire
• Image: Catholic Exchange

That interview made history; it was the first time that a TV crew entered Santa Marta to interview the pope.

What is not known, however, is that immediately afterwards Francis asked to speak in private with the TV reporter, Henrique Cymerman.

He opened the conversation with a highly significant question regarding the Israeli-Palestinian situation: "How can I help?" and he then followed up with a series of other pertinent questions.

I learned all this because Cymerman happened to be sitting in front of me on the papal plane from Rome to Amman.

When the Pope came to greet each of the 73 journalists from 15 countries that are accompanying him on his "pilgrimage of prayer" to Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, I noticed that he spoke to the Israeli in Spanish and that it was clear that they seemed to know each other well, and had something to say to each other.

My curiosity was aroused. Afterwards, I asked the Israeli how he had first come to know the Argentinian pope and he told me this fascinating story.

Cymerman was born in Portugal of a Spanish mother and Polish father, and came to Israel at the age of 16. He speaks many languages and is one of the lead reporters for Israel's Channel 2 TV.

In April 2013 he travelled to Buenos Aires to give a conference on the Middle East. Some 700 people attended including Rabbi Abraham Skorka, an old friend of Francis.

Skorka, it seems liked what the Israeli said, and afterwards approached him and asked if he would like to meet Pope Francis. Cymerman responded enthusiastically and so Skorka contacted the pope and arranged an interview for June 7. Continue reading.

Source: America Magazine

Image: CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters

Dramatic headlines in the Dominion Post, such as, "Bullied teen's broken neck fear" are almost a compulsory read; particularly when accompanied by an equally dramatic picture of a slight boy in hospital.

Reading further, the article names the college and its location; Bishop Viard College and Porirua.

Perhaps playing on some stereo-typical notion, traumatic childhood event or merely witnessing the power of Polynesian students on the sports field, it's not hard to conjure up an image of a physically mature polynesian boy 'doing damage' to a less physically abled student from Myanmar.

Next we read the principal of the school with a "bully problem" is requesting leave.

"Wow" I thought, "the bullying can't be a one-off event; it must be some kind of epidemic."

My interest piqued, reading further, I found the student with the suspected broken neck was hospitalised after being punched unconscious, and, a month earlier another student suffered concussion, a bruised face and gouged eye after playing bullrush.

Hmmm, doesn't sound like bullying to me.

All the while and throughout the media storm, the principal Teresa Cargo, a teacher with over 30 years experience, correctly identified both problems as "assault".

The chairman of the Bishop Viard College Board agreed with his principal, yet a series of stories fed us with associated images such as: Porirua, Polynesian, and bullying.

No one likes a bully, and where headlines do not match the story, I'm left wondering who is doing the bullying?

I had lunch the other day with two "spin-doctors". Both former respected journalists.

Still reasonably young, it was sad to hear them lament the state of current journalism in New Zealand.

Almost simultaneously both shared their "spin doctoring" was made easy by journalists, who for example looked for the sensation in a story, didn't spend time checking facts, and merely copied and pasted dressed-up versions of the spin-doctors' press releases.

Once a Catholic, always a Catholic, one of them went further and he confessed he had pangs of conscience that copy and paste journalism was not serving democracy. He even wondered if in the interests of democracy, he should hold back, in effect not do his job, so as the journalist could tell 'the' story.

I'm not sure if either of them read or listened to the live stream of Dr Gavin Ellis' address at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day lecture at the AUT on May 5.

Dr Ellis, a media commentator and author is of the view the need for profit is threatening the substance of journalism in New Zealand.

He says that the mainstream media in New Zealand is increasingly incapable of serving society as it is obliged to.

Ellis puts the responsibility for threatening the substance of journalism in New Zealand on the over-riding economic goal of satisfying investors.

Citing the high percentage of crime and emergency stories in The New Zealand Herald, Waikato Times and Dominion-Post, he observes, "these were not the most important newsworthy issues in New Zealand at the time."

"Such news judgment is indicative of a shift away from providing information that people need to know, toward a marketer's perception of information that people want to know. If they desire celebrity news, they shall have celebrity news."

Ellis cites Gwyneth Paltrow's marital status or Miley Cyrus' bizarre interpretation of womanhood as examples of easier and cheaper stories to publish than well-researched articles on complex subjects or contextualised accounts from the world's strategic danger zones.

Labelling it as the "burglar alarm" approach to news, where only acute problems make it into the mainstream media, Ellis accused news corporations of no longer informing readers "about the normal functionings of the institutions that collectively hold our community together."

I for one don't think society has been served well by this barrage of sensationalism.

What a contrast then it was to read interim Bishop Viard College principal, Prue Kelly, who left Wellington High School after 17 years in the top job, says she is finding Bishop Viard College

• welcoming,
• a place with a hard working staff,
• where there is huge good will,
• the students are well behaved,
• a college thats is safe,
• an environment that's friendly.

Not usual descriptors of an environment riddled with bullying.

- John Murphy is a Marist priest working in digital media at the Marist Internet Ministry, New Zealand.

The journalist-led project will be seeking charitable status for the organisation, previously called the Scoop Foundation project but now formally titled the Aotearoa New Zealand Foundation for Public Interest Journalism.

The two legal documents necessary for the proposed Foundation have been made available. Two specific comment forms are also featured and further expressions of interest can be made via its

• Draft Trust Deed for the Aotearoa New Zealand Foundation for Public Interest Journalism
• Constitution of the Aotearoa New Zealand Foundation for Public Interest Journalism
• Contact Form page.

Source

• pij.org.nz
• Image: dict.space.4goo.net