Media Resource Information

How to Influence and Interact with the Media
Media Response

In the communications media the Church finds a precious aid for spreading the Gospel and religious values, for promoting dialogue, ecumenical and inter-religious cooperation, and also for defending those solid principles which are indispensable for building a society which respects the dignity of the human person and is attentive to the common good. The Church willingly employs these media to furnish information about itself and to expand the boundaries of evangelization, of catechesis and of formation, considering their use as a response to the command of the Lord: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15).

The Rapid Development, Apostolic Letter of the Holy Father, John Paul II, to those responsible for Communications (January 24, 2005).

Letters - Emails - Phone Calls
"Very few people understand the value of writing...  My purpose here is to help you see why writing is such a blessed asset of the spiritual life.  To be convinced of the value of writing, if only a few words every day, is to have made a giant stride on the road to sanctity...  Writing disciplines the mind.  Left to ourselves, our thoughts are nothing less than a jungle filled with wild animals.  Our most important duty in life is to master our minds, to control our thoughts...  Every thought leads to a desire.  Every desire leads to an action.  Every action leads to a habit.  Every habit shapes our character.  And our character determines our destiny.  It all begins in the mind...  Writing is a proved way of lowering oneself in one's own estimation.  There is no way known for more surely and effectively growing in humility than by writing...we cannot write without thinking...we should write for the practice of charity in sharing our souls...  What God in His wisdom and love has shared with us, keep a record of that.  Share that wisdom and love with others by writing it down."  -  Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

	Effective Letters to Media Outlets – Terry Sullivan YOU can bring Catholic viewpoints to the public forum and help shape public opinion. YOU can help fight harmful television content by writing letters to TV producers that get attention.YOU can help turn the power of media to the good.
	Letter-Writing Workshop Introduction – Terry Sullivan Now, let's say you write a letter to the Tribune's editor on a Thursday and it gets published on a Friday. Let's say a quarter of those subscribers are out of town that day and don't read the paper. Let's say others read the paper, but overlook your letter. Even if only two-thirds of those subscribers see your letter, that's 462,000 readers, not including people who buy that day's edition from a newsstand or from a box on the street, or who pick it up from the seat next to them in the airport. That's a lot of readers!
	Letter-Writing Workshop Presentation - Matt C. Abbott My presentation is relatively short, so I would first like to talk about media bias, something that shouldn’t be too shocking to anyone here. Then, I’d like to go over points on good letter writing, nicely put together by the Father Hardon Media Apostolate and Terry Sullivan. Finally, I will “open the floor” to any questions you may have.
	The Writing Apostolate of the Marian Catechists – Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. In this article Fr. Hardon speaks about: Writing and the Spiritual Life, The Writing Apostolate in the Providence of God, and Marian Catechists as Apostles of Writing. This message on writing is for all of us.
	Catholics Must Enter the Media – Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Echoing our Holy Father, who has repeatedly and urgently called Catholics to evangelize and to defend the Faith using the electronic media. Because of the media’s great influence, whole nations once strongly Christian, have not only abandoned their faith in Christ as the God and Savior, they have shaped the very laws of their countries in direct contradiction to the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Church which He founded.
	Journalistic Un-Integrity - Part 1 by Theresa E. Carpinelli (Catholic Exchange) "When the Washington Post printed an outrageous allegation about some Catholic priests in 18th-century Portugal, I emailed them several times, requesting a credible source for what I knew to be a fabrication. You might wonder why I got involved."

Center for Media Literacy: "The heart of media literacy is informed inquiry...Through a four-step "inquiry" process of Awareness . . . Analysis . . . Reflection . . .Action, media literacy helps young people acquire an empowering set of 'navigational' skills which include the ability to: Access information from a variety of sources. Analyze and explore how messages are 'constructed' whether print, verbal, visual or multi-media. Evaluate media's explicit and implicit messages against one's own ethical, moral and/or democratic principles. Express or create their own messages using a variety of media tools." Be sure to check out their Media & Values Archive with over 350 articles that offer teaching ideas and resources you can use today.

Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) "Media literacy education is defined as the development of skills to empower persons to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages (AMLA, 2001)." The AMLA "is committed to promoting media literacy education that is focused on critical inquiry, learning, and skill-building. This national, grassroots membership organization will be a key force in bringing media literacy education to all 60 million students in the United States, their parents, their teachers, and others who care about youth."

Communication Careers

National Communication Association (NCA) "The purpose of the Association is to promote study, criticism, research, teaching, and application of the artistic, humanistic, and scientific principles of communication...Pathways to Careers in Communication, published by the National Communication Association, relates clearly the importance of communication expertise and skills to the professional world: Not only do we spend considerable time communicating, communication skills also are essential to . . . professional success . . . Even an economics professor states that '. . . we are living in a communications revolution comparable to the invention of printing . . . In an age of increasing talk, it's wiser talk we need most.'"

Daughters of St. Paul The Pauline Center for Media Studies offers media courses, workshops & seminars, resources, articles, books and much more.

"A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend."
Emily Dickinson