Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, October 28, 1999
The Southern Cross, Page 11
Catholic communicators discuss issues of Gospel and culture
By Carrie Swearingen
Las Vegas
he television culture most of our
families live in today is steeped
in superficiality, according to well-
known author, media critic and
nationally syndicated talk show host
Michael Medved.
Speaking at the opening session of
Unda (Latin for “wave”) conference
for Catholic communicators, radio
and television programmers, media
educators and film makers, Medved
said the world of television has made
Americans “short-sighted and hope
lessly depressed.” He added, the con
stant, second by second stream of
images has created in Americans a
“need for perpetual stimulation.”
“The focus is on dysfunction, both
in families and life,” Medved said.
“It’s no wonder people are always
willing to believe the worst.”
In referring to the theme of the 27th
Annual Unda-USA Conference,
“Gospel and Culture: How Wide the
Divide?,” Medved cited several key
ways the Bible and culture differ.
“The media culture works on forming
a short attention span while the Bible
focuses on a long term horizon, Good
News, hope, redemption and a loving
God. Media culture lacks depth,
while religion goes below the sur
face. No where in the Gospel is there
a focus on beautiful people.”
Medved, who is Jewish, also
addressed the issue of Catholic bash
ing, which has been called the anti-
Semitism of the ‘90’s. He referenced
a variety of attacks against the
Catholic Church, including the paint
ing entitled “The Holy Virgin Mary,”
now on display in Brooklyn’s
Museum of Art.
The painting includes pornographic
images of genitalia flying around the
Virgin’s head like a halo and also
includes a large clump of elephant
dung shellacked to her breast.
“Ask anyone. Ask my seven year
old son. Is this intended to be an
Actress Della Reese, of the CBS-TV
series "Touched by an Angel,"
received the Unda-USA Gabriel
Award for personal achievement.
insult?” Of course, it is,” Medved
said. “You don’t do that as a tribute.
Let’s try that at Oscar time next year.
Instead of gold statuettes, we are
going to give out shellacked elephant
dung. Let’s see how they like it.”
The U.S. bishops document,
Renewing the Mind of the Media,
released in 1998 was the focus of
comments made by Bishop George
Niederauer of Salt Lake City. The
document served as a reminder to
media of their responsibility to the
public, but also called on parents, gov
ernment, advertisers and religious
leaders to take on their share of
responsibility for what is in the media.
“Church leaders must give media liter
acy and education the priorities they
deserve in today’s culture,”
Niederauer said.
Radio was a major topic at this
year’s assembly. Hal Brown, Vice
President of Programming for
Catholic Family Radio, discussed his
network’s philosophy and approach
in attempting to have stations in the
top 150 radio markets by 2001.
Currently, CFR is in 10 major mar
kets and is hoping to be in 40 of the
top 50 markets by the end of 2000.
Brown said CFR is working to “get
this country back on a sound moral
footing.” He said the goal is simply
stated, “Building better families
through faith.”
Bishop Robert N. Lynch of Saint
Petersburg, Florida, gave a strong
endorsement to the use of radio, say
ing he sees its value first hand. The
Diocese of Saint Petersburg has its
own radio station. Bishop Lynch,
who chairs the United States
Catholic Conference
Communications Committee, said he
hopes his panel will take more initia
tive in making radio a player for the
national church.
He said one of his concerns is that
diocesan newspapers “are not effec
tive tools for evangelization or cate-
chesis for young people and young
married couples.” He cited a study
undertaken for his newspaper, which
showed the readers were largely in
the age category of 60-something
plus.
One of the main objectives of Unda
is to dialogue with members of the
secular media about issues and ethics.
“We believe dialoguing with our
counterparts in the secular world
brings about a better understanding
and appreciation of what they face in
the challenges of reporting a story
and what we, who are often reported
on, ask them to consider and learn
before they write their stories,” said
Unda-USA President Frank Morock.
“Most journalists are good, decent
people,” Morock said. “Unda works
at encouraging media to take the high
ground and not opt for the easy way
out of sensationalism and titillation
for the ratings. Through our annual
Gabriel Awards, we honor and affirm
those organizations which, through
their reporting, focus on the dignity
of the individual.”
This year, Unda began a “Gabriel
Day” event at its assembly aimed at
dialoguing with secular professionals.
Marty Haag, Vice President of A.H.
Belo Broadcasting spoke on the
“Issue of Values in Broadcasting.”
Haag, a veteran broadcast journalist,
said, “This is one of the most trou
bling times for me. We are in a cul
ture of news that is changing rapidly.
Shocking images create hype and
hype sells. Is it any wonder we are
seeing a backlash against TV news?”
Haag was presented a plaque citing
Belo and its television stations for
their strong community involvement
and their efforts to maintain a high
level of ethical integrity in an
increasingly competitive business.
The commendation comes as a result
of A.H. Belo’s decision not to air the
“60 Minutes” segment, last
November, in which Jack Kevorkian
took the life of a man suffering from
Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
In commenting on the decision,
Haag said, “We saw no overriding
reason to show the moment of death.
The fact that the segment came in a
key television rating period also gave
us a reason for concern. In our view,
the way this issue was handled in the
piece was not in the community inter
est, therefore it was our decision not
to air it in the six markets where we
own CBS stations.”
During the assembly, Unda-USA
held elections for its top two offices.
Frank Morock, Communications
Director at the Diocese of Raleigh,
was re-elected to a second three-year
term. He had no opposition. Rose
Hammes of the Diocese of La
Crosse, Wisconsin was elected First
Vice President. Sister Rose Pacatte,
Daughters of Saint Paul, was elected
Representative At-Large. Roberto
Gutierrez, President of Hispanic
Television Network, was appointed
by the Unda Board to serve as an At-
Large Representative.
Diocesan multimedia campaign honored
The multimedia campaign for the Diocese
of Savannah Jubilee Campaign: One Faith,
One Family, has won a national award—a
Certificate of Merit from the Catholic
Communications Campaign.
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry of Los
Angeles and Bishop Robert N. Lynch of
Saint Petersburg presented the certificate to
Barbara D. King, Director of
Communications for the Diocese of
Savannah, at the Unda convention in Las
Vegas. King is a member of the Unda
Board of Directors.
Brochures, videos, posters and newspaper
tabloids made up the multimedia cam-
paign. The Diocesan Office of Stewardship
and Development, under the direction of
Patricia Signs, developed the campaign.
Individual certificates were also awarded
to Signs, Avis Coleman, Arcelious Daniels
and Sherrie Drummond of SCAD-TV; Craig
Harney and Resat Kayhaner of WTOC-TV;
Stacy Farrell of Design by Whiting, Inc.;
and Michael V. Goodwin of Guidance in
Giving, for their help with the campaign.
At the Gabriel Awards program of the
Unda convention, awards were given to
three television shows that were judged
superior by a panel of Savannah media
representatives. The three shows—pro
duced for children by stations in small mar-
kets—were "True Colors" by WRAL-TV in
Raleigh, North Carolina; "SALSA 125: The
Race," a Spanish-language show by
Peachstar Education Service / Georgia
Public Broadcasting; and "Surviving
Hatred: Witness to the Holocaust by
WVEC-TV," Norfolk, Virginia.
Making up the jury panel were Sister
Mary Faith McKean, RSM, Diocesan
Chancellor, David Stagnitto of WSAV-TV,
Natalie Hendrix of WJCL-TV, Wayne Nix of
Jones Communications' Community Access
Channel, Coleman from SCAD-TV, Harney
from WTOC-TV and Maggie Smith, of
Creative Childhood, Inc. King served as
jury chairman.