Linda McQuaig says media became cheerleading comforters instead of acting as neutral observers
I like to think that if I was a better writer I could have written this ... but I'm not ... and I didn't .... I'm just glad that somebody did.
I've never been to journalism school, but I can imagine what must go on there. Judging from the coverage of the Pope's death, I assume that aspiring media types are taught that one of the key functions of the journalist in today's world is to lead us all in prayer.
All last week, the media went full throttle over Pope John Paul II's death, taking on the role of comforter-in-chief.
Even before the Pope actually died, I was informed by the headline in every paper on the newsstand that "the world" was praying for him.
Really? As I went about my errands, I knew that wasn't true. I, for one, wasn't praying for him, nor did anyone else seem to be.
CBC news readers referred to him as "the Holy father" and talked about the need to find a new "shepherd," apparently forgetting that Canada is a modern secular democracy, not a medieval theocracy.
Whatever happened to the notion that journalists are detached observers of events?
[There's more ...]
IA
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