Communicators called to be ‘tidal wave of change for the good’
Vatican news
On the second day of the communication jubilee, Maria Résa and Colum McCann put media professionals in challenge to tell stories of hope in a world marked by conflicts.
By Edoardo Giribaldi and Kielce Gussie
“We live in a most human and least human time,” said the Irish writer and co-founder of Narrative 4, Colum McCann. He stressed how much humanity has made extraordinary progress in the fields of science, technology and medicine. However, he says, “we live an epidemic of loneliness and isolation”.
On the second day of the Jubilee of the Communication World, McCann and Maria Résa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and journalist, spoke with media professionals around the world in the Vatican Paul VI room on their role in the world as communicators. “Imagine if we all worked together. We could well stem the tide and heal our world, ”said held.
Back to the roots of communication
Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, introduced the session, led by Mario Calabriasi, journalist and writer. Stressing the themes of this special jubilee, Ruffini explained how “we must ask ourselves how to keep hope in communication between people and machines, and how technology can and must be guided”.
He stressed that the role of communicators must always be animated by the “will to return to the roots of our profession, to the root of our hope”.
Tell stories of salvation
Mario Calabresi admitted that “evil must be told”. But he warned against the fact of making it the only story, “the only objective through which to see the world” or “the engine of information”.
In this account, “signs of resistance” should be obvious. However, society seems to have become unable to notice these signs. Calabresi stressed that journalists want to tell the story of salvation.
Social platforms are not neutral
“We are experiencing a deep transformation of our world,” said Maria Réra, a transformation inevitably shaped by modern technologies. But she warned of conduct only motivated by the search for profit, which “destroys people’s confidence”, leading to a generalized “solitude epidemic”.
The defense of freedom of expression was a key element of the journalistic career of Résa. She was arrested and found guilty of various accusations, including defamation, because of her critical coverage of the Philippine Administration of Duterte.
Revived explained that the jubilee arrives at an important moment in the world where “what is good is bad; And what’s wrong is good. She stressed how a generalized “manipulation” occurs daily in the media. “You say a lie a million times and it becomes a truth. If you convince people that lies are facts, you control them, “warned.
Noting the role played by social media in communication, she describes them as “non -neutral”. These platforms monetize the feelings of humanity, intensify divisions and exploit vulnerabilities.
Be a tidal wave of change
Reflecting to current events, REBRE has quoted the recent Facebook decision to eliminate its activities to verify the facts. “Dear Mark,” she said, addressing the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, “it is not freedom of expression; It is a matter of security.
From Myanmar to Gaza, via Ukraine and Sudan, and forgotten conflicts of Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, wars are not only carried out with weapons but “with algorithms, from the disinformation and systematic destruction of truth ”.
In response, RESA put journalists and media professionals in challenge to recognize their power. You “can be part of a tidal wave of change for good.” It is powered by love.
She concluded by quoting TS Eliot, referring to her vision of the “present moment of the past”. Refs said, “We want to do good now, because when we look back one day, we want to say that we have done the right thing.”
“We have to understand each other”
“How can we promote civilization from the rubble of war?” This is how Colum McCann began his reflection, citing a conversation between Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein.
McCann underlined the need for the global community to seek a “communion of feelings” and a “methodology of instincts”. As a co-founder of the narrative narrative initiative 4, he stressed how “the cement unites”, without which “we are nothing”.
These stories are even more precious when they come from people from unconventional environments. “When we do not know these stories,” warned McCann, “we reach the critical point of our possible darkness”, capable of “destroying us completely”. Man loses the ability to love his neighbor because he has eliminated the other and only he remains.
He warned that when the man loses his neighbor, he gets lost himself and the result is “the cancellation” of the stories of our “supposed” enemies. To avoid this, Albert Einstein had imagined a form of “global governance”. From this idea were born “institutions like the United Nations”. However, despite their promising origins, “they did not work as we would have hoped for”.
The change begins with the bottom
Although changes have started to take root, the changes have not been sufficient, because decisions are still from above, “observed McCann. The real change, he said, begins” down”.
He cited two fathers, an Israeli and a Palestinian, who, despite the loss of their children in the conflict in the Middle East, “maintained their friendship” and now travel the world to share their history. Their philosophy is “simple but deep: we don’t need to love ourselves. In fact, we don’t even need to love each other. But we have to understand each other”.
The words of hope and reflection by Réla and McCann were closely linked to the music that is equally powerful and inspiring from the Maestro Uto Ughi. Considered one of the striking figures of contemporary Italian violinism, his performance marked the conclusion of dialogue, leading to the long -awaited meeting with Pope Francis.
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