Pope Leo XIV encouraged television journalists to reject “ideological preconceptions” and show “creativity, critical discernment and freedom of thought.”
Addressing the editorial staff of the Italian public-television news program TG2 on its fiftieth anniversary, Pope Leo said on March 16 that “we all know how difficult it is to allow ourselves to be surprised by facts, by encounters, by the gazes and voices of others; how strong the temptation is to seek out, see and listen only to what confirms our own opinions. But there can be no good communication, nor true freedom and healthy pluralism, without this openness.”
“Always, but especially in the dramatic circumstances of war, such as those we are currently experiencing, the media must guard against the risk of becoming propaganda,” the Pope continued. “And the task of journalists, in verifying the news so as not to become a mouthpiece for those in power, becomes even more urgent and delicate.”
Pope Leo added, “It is up to you to show the sufferings that war always brings to the people; to show the face of war and to relate it through the eyes of the victims, so as not to transform it into a videogame.”