Ethics Newsline®

Catholic leader says media need same level of ethical attention as biosciences

ROME
Pope Benedict XVI last week called for a renewed emphasis on media ethics.

The pope suggested that while mass media have been instrumental in spreading knowledge and democracy, media outlets have also hyped violence, vulgarity, and rampant consumerism, the Associated Press reports.

He said there was a need for what he called “info-ethics” — a field parallel to bioethics — according to the BBC.

Speaking on Saint Francis de Sales day, which commemorates the saint considered by the Catholic church to be the patron saint of journalists, the pope said the role of the media in modern society forms “a crucial challenge for the third millennium,” the Melbourne, Australia, Herald-Sun reports.

Sources: BBC, Jan. 26 — AP, Jan. 26 — Melbourne Herald-Sun, Jan. 26 — Reuters, Jan. 26.