The bishops of the Commission for social communication of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference have thanked the media and their professionals “for the service they provide to the free and democratic exercise of public life”. But at the same time they warn that this service “cannot be performed if God and transcendental values remain confined to the sidelines”. The warning is made in a statement issued by the Commission in preparation for the World Day of Social Communications (28 May). The Spanish bishops ask journalists that “in reflecting on reality they take into account these dimensions without which their treatment of reality, or the information they provide about it, would neither be complete nor truthful”. One of the problems of present-day communication, says the statement, is for example “the absence in the conscience of public opinion of the problems of the poorest and most depressed zones of our planet. When, for example, does Africa appear in the media? Which of these media speak with any depth of the causes that force so many people to flee their countries and seek better conditions in Europe, often at the risk of their life?” So, the necessary condition for credible communication is that journalists, often subjected to pressures, should have “principles, courage and determination” and that they should once again “reason on the principles and foundations of their profession, since an unfettered communication requires that the ideological, economic and political obstacles that at times hamper genuine information be overcome”.
