525. How is one to use the means of social communication? (part 2 continuation)
(Comp 525 repetition)
The information
provided by the media must be at the service of the common good. Its content
must be true and – within the limits of justice and charity – also complete.
Furthermore, information must be communicated honestly and properly with
scrupulous respect for moral laws and the legitimate rights and dignity of the
person.
“In brief”
(CCC 2512) Society has a
right to information based on truth, freedom, and justice. One should practice
moderation and discipline in the use of the social communications media.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2497) By the very nature of their profession,
journalists have an obligation to serve the truth and not offend against
charity in disseminating information. They should strive to respect, with equal
care, the nature of the facts and the limits of critical judgment concerning
individuals. They should not stoop to defamation. (CCC 2498) "Civil authorities have particular
responsibilities in this field because of the common good.... It is for the
civil authority... to defend and safeguard a true and just freedom of
information" (IM 12). By promulgating laws and overseeing their
application, public authorities should ensure that "public morality and
social progress are not gravely endangered" through misuse of the media
(IM 12 § 2). Civil authorities should punish any violation of the rights of
individuals to their reputation and privacy. They should give timely and
reliable reports concerning the general good or respond to the well-founded
concerns of the people. Nothing can justify recourse to disinformation for
manipulating public opinion through the media. Interventions by public
authority should avoid injuring the freedom of individuals or groups.
Reflection
(CCC 2499) Moral judgment must condemn the plague of
totalitarian states which systematically falsify the truth, exercise political
control of opinion through the media, manipulate defendants and witnesses at
public trials, and imagine that they secure their tyranny by strangling and
repressing everything they consider "thought crimes." (CCC 1903) Authority is exercised
legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if
it employs morally licit means to attain it. If rulers were to enact unjust
laws or take measures contrary to the moral order, such arrangements would not
be binding in conscience. In such a case, "authority breaks down
completely and results in shameful abuse" (John XXIII PT 51). [END]
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