Disinformation on a worldwide scale

Media misinformation and bias is a global problem, lest you think the American elites are uniquely unfair and irresponsible in reporting the news. The profession has the power to shape public opinion, and it’s being used and abused everywhere. Pope Benedict has been at the center of media attention off and on, and veteran Vatican watcher Sandro Magister turns the attention back on them.

For a pope who is a theologian and a “doctor of the Church” like Benedict XVI, communication is essential. But the machinery of the Vatican is far from providing him with an efficient service, as www.chiesa has documented several times.

But there is also an external obstacle that blocks Benedict XVI’s words from reaching their destination correctly.

This obstacle is found in the leading newspapers.

A striking case of disinformation on a grand scale was seen on the first day of the pope’s trip to Turkey.

Sandro recounts the private conversation between Benedict and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, after which Erdogan manipulated the world’s media. That politically calculated spin, with a media ready to do the dance, made for this incisive analysis on Sandro’s site, written by international diplomat Anton Smitsendonk. 

If Turks are in any way concerned about their image as a hospitable nation it might be good if they knew how at Esemboga International Airport of Ankara prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to trap the Holy Father as he entered upon his pilgrimage in Turkey, November 28, 2006.

But our strongest criticism does not go to Erdogan but to the many journalists of the free western press who traveled with the pope and showed so little professional perspicacity.

The renowned “New York Times” failed in this event. But also the well respected “Figaro” in France, and nearly all the big newspapers in my own country Holland.

All said more or less that the pope on the airport of Ankara gave up his resistance to Turkey in the European Union.

These big name, big time media outlets are utterly irresponsible when they draw such major news fodder from one feeding trough, led by the one person with the most to gain from it. Amazing, huh?

Why were reporters so utterly misguided?

They have had timely and clear and yet polite disclaimers from both Father Federico Lombardi, the head of the Holy See press division, and archbishop Dominique Mamberti of the State Secretariat.

Do reporters not read between the lines? Do they not judge the circumstances, see through the show which had been put up, compare notes with each other and do some investigation?

Incredibly, no. That takes work, and professionalism.

In this case they fell as a group of lemmings from the cliff which Erdogan had prepared for them.

Well put. 

Erdogan may not have acted entirely honorably in treating a guest in this cavalier way and then turning to the journalists misreporting his conversation. That is no great surprise. It is the western correspondents who had the responsibility to see through such tricks and who dismally failed in such a surprising way.

Maybe they saw their error a few days later. But did any of the correspondents retract their statement when they saw the clear disclaimers which were rapidly given – even during the Turkish visit – by archbishop Mamberti and father Lombardi?

In a word, no.

Vatican diplomacy did what it had to do in a most proper way. But the message was not understood by the reporters.

Or worse, reporters didn’t care to pay attention.

And did the chief editors of those newspapers later take any remedial action? They probably speculated that in our hasty world the error would be forgotten in 48 hours.

It will not be forgotten. The Turkish people may be concerned about how this accident is being seen in the world. Erdogan’s action has even further diminished the chances of Turkey accessing the European Union.

As to the quoted newspapers, they should not be surprised if in establishing truth they are losing ground in comparison with websites and electronic newsletters. The profession of newspaper reporters needs some rehabilitation.

Newspapers are dying as it is, failing to keep up with the internet and cable television and podcasting. They need more than ‘some’ rehabilitation. Establishing truth — and the public trust — would take a massive overhaul.