Today we salute all men and women who shoulder the task of communicating to the world news and views about situations and events through writings, reports, pictures, cartoons, presentations, opinions and more.
The intrepid among them, who ferret out the truth, sift the true from the false, analyse events critically, investigate and sort out matters and present to the world facts beyond fiction, need our respect and encouragement.
Pope Francis expresses appreciation for such persons. “We owe a word of gratitude for the courage and commitment of all those professionals – journalists, camera operators, editors, directors – who often risk their lives in carrying out their work. Thanks to their efforts, we now know, for example, about the hardships endured by persecuted minorities in various parts of the world, numerous cases of oppression and injustice inflicted on the poor and on the environment, and many wars that otherwise would be overlooked. It would be a loss not only for news reporting, but for society and for democracy as a whole, were those voices to fade away. Our entire human family would be impoverished.” (MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS, FOR THE 2021 WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY)
In today’s world of rat race for power and favour, sections of media are seen to crawl before the powers that are by presenting distorted reports or by faking events. They are black sheep in the world of communication. These social carbuncles need to be removed for the good health of society.