Florida Catholic | Editorial

Catholic media converge on Toronto

Published: 06.06.08

Two groups of Catholic communicators met last week in Toronto, to be refreshed and revived in their ministry of spreading the word through newspapers, magazines, books, the Internet, radio and television. A few years ago, the Catholic Press Association, to which the Florida Catholic belongs, and the Catholic Academy for Communications Arts Professionals, made up of Catholic radio and television producers and staffers and those who direct diocesan communications efforts, decided to combine the yearly meetings of the two organizations into one, annual Catholic Media Convocation.

With the changing landscape of media these days, it’s more important than ever to learn from experts in the field and from our peers. Everything is changing – from convergence of print publications with the Web, often with for audio and video elements, to ideas for generating revenue on the Internet. These challenges are not unique to Catholic media; our secular colleagues face the same concerns, but we must address them from a different angle, because our basic mission is different. While a secular news company exists to first satisfy its shareholders while informing the community it serves, we exist first and foremost to provide news and information to the Catholic communities in Florida.

I’ve been attending these professional development conferences for the Catholic press for more than 25 years and never failed to bring home at least one significant new idea. This year, in addition to workshops on the Web, new media and advertising, the attendees had a chance to hear from Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the head of Vatican Radio and TV and spokesman for the Vatican as the director of the Vatican press office. He spoke about Pope Benedict XVI’s approach to the media, and how that differs from that of his predecessor, but is no less effective.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, primate of Canada and Archbishop of Quebec, addressed the conference about the church in his area, and the upcoming International Eucharistic Congress slated for Quebec this month. He hopes the congress will enliven those who attend and increase the understanding of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. Cardinal John Foley, named last year as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, pointed out that most Christians in the Holy Land are descendants of the original followers of Christ. He urged support for these people who struggle to live their faith daily in difficult circumstances: “Their numbers grow smaller as they feel themselves ever less welcome in the land of their birth – a twice-over minority: a minority in Jewish Israel and a minority within the Arab minority in Israel and, of course, a minority in the midst of the overwhelming Muslim majority in Palestine and Jordan.”

The annual awards for the CPA are presented on the last day of the conference. This year, the Florida Catholic once again won several awards, including first place in general excellence, the category that is the equivalent of the Oscar’s “best picture.” The Miami edition was honored, but the honor belongs to all the dioceses covered by the newspaper. We had to enter one diocesan edition in the contest because the association considers the Florida Catholic six separate publications, despite the common center section and other shared elements. We picked up several other awards from the CPA, which you can read about here.

The same weekend, a Florida regional meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists gave out its Sunshine State Awards in Fort Lauderdale and judged the Florida Catholic as one of the two best trade or special interest publications in the state.

We don’t write and edit our publications for judges of contests – we do this for you, our readers. But it is gratifying and affirming when our journalism peers recognize the work we do as exemplary. It helps us know that we are on the right track. Kudos to all the Florida Catholic staff, who work so diligently to bring you the best in Catholic news and commentary – in print, online, all the time.

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Catholic media converge on Toronto

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