The Catholic Church has given media gloom-mongers a belt of the crosier over the preoccupation with endlessly depressing news.Radio shows such as Liveline and Morning Ireland have now become so gloomy they're known as Whine Line and Moaning Ireland.
Fr Brian McKevitt, the editor of Alive newspaper, now believes all the bad news may be a turn off for listeners.
"I was surprised recently when a businessman told me he had stopped listening to Morning Ireland on RTE, and he feels much the better for it. All the bad news and endless analysis were lowering his spirits even before he faced the pressures of his day's work," said Fr McKevitt.
"Many of us are exposed to far too much negativity in the media. This comes from the likes of Joe Duffy, Pat Kenny, The Right Hook, Mary Wilson on Drivetime and even the storylines in the TV soaps," he said.
Cardinal Sean Brady, at the recent opening of the national novena in honour of Our Lady of Knock, expressed similar views: "Evidence suggests that those who are constantly exposed to negativity, cynicism and despair are more likely to become negative and despairing themselves," he said.
"If we want to be realistic and build a genuine culture of hope, we should not ignore the prophets of doom. However, we would do well to limit our exposure to them. We should try to be more careful and discerning about the type of literature we read and the amount of TV we watch," explained Cardinal Brady.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
SIC: II