Archbishop criticises media for overly ‘secular’ interests

THE most senior figure in the Catholic church has criticised sections of the nation’s media for their “almost exclusively secular” interests and called on the public to only buy newspapers which are consistent with their “moral values and religious ideals”.

Primate of All Ireland Archbishop Seán Brady made the comments in the Irish Bishops’ Conference’s Annual Report and Directory.

Archbishop Brady said: “In Ireland, where many are deeply committed to marriage, family, religious faith, religious practice and community as key values which sustain the common good, it is peculiar that not more people in the media and not more opinion writers, in particular, reflect the values of such a large section of their readership.

“Some of the major Sunday newspapers in particular are almost exclusively secular in their interests and in the range of opinion they convey.”

He said many of those publications give very little space to the religious interests of their readership, many of whom will have attended Mass or some other form of religious worship that same day.

“Some will argue that the content of the such newspapers simply reflects the interests and values of those who freely choose to buy them,” the archbishop said.

“This, however, is only true where a genuine choice exists in that marketplace.”

He said many Irish people had already exercised a conscientious decision not to buy one or other newspaper because frequently, in their opinion it had unjustifiably or excessively offended their religious or moral convictions.

“It is important for every Christian to bear in mind that the decision to buy a particular newspaper, to listen to or watch a particular programme, is an important act of conscience which should be consistent with one’s moral values and religious ideals.”

The archbishop’s colleague Bishop Joseph Duffy, chairman of the IBC’s Commission on Communications criticised certain media outlets for having no religious affairs correspondent.

“The quality and accuracy of coverage would obviously benefit enormously by more investment in this area, without detriment to the readership figures and arguably to their enhancement,” he said.