Call for Catholic values in media

The Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, has said Catholics working in the media had "a right, and a duty" to ensure Catholic values were fairly represented.

"The work of communication, 'the truth of the human person' ( a quotation from Pope John Paul), is the responsibility of everyone in the church, including those Catholic journalists, script writers, producers and others who influence the means of social communication," he said.

Writing the foreword to the Catholic Communications Office annual report 2003-2004, he said: "Catholics working in the media have a right, and a duty, to ensure that the values and beliefs of the Catholic community are treated with the respect, accuracy and fairness which a pluralist society, based on the values of justice and truth, rightly deserves."

They had the same right also "to expect that their religious values will be reflected in television 'soap' dramas, talk shows or the balance of opinion provided by newspapers, radio and television". He quoted Pope John Paul that it was "not easy to resist commercial pressures or the demands of conformity to secular ideologies, but that is what responsible communicators must do".