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Last week I was invited to hear a talk given by Teresa Tomeo. She is a veteran broadcast journalist that worked in the Detroit area for many years. If you would like to read more about her and her career and subsequent rediscovery of her Catholic roots look here.

Coming from an insider’s perspective she told how our newsrooms are generally staffed with people who know little about the Church or our faith or who may even be hostile toward it. This is easy to see from reading local newspapers how many errors in reporting our faith there is. It can be frustrating at times and I wonder if they could they not have asked somebody who really knows the faith to check their reporting before they go to print.

She gave several suggestions for engaging the various news media out there in hopes of helping them understand us better and report on the Church in a more fair, informative, and truthful manner. What follows are her suggestions:

1) Pray for those in mass media. Pray for those who are hostile toward the faith, pray for those who report errors because of a misunderstanding of the faith, and pray for Catholics who feel pressured by their peers. The point is not to make them a Catholic news source but a better, more factual news source.

2) Know your stuff. We cannot help others know their stuff if we do not know it. Read documents. Go to sources. Find out the story.

3) Encourage Christians to go into secular media. Our first knee jerk reaction is to say, “Fine. Then I’ll abandon you.” But then nothing changes. Rather, enter the problem and be part of the solution. Then go back to step one.

4) Support Catholic and other Christian media that helps get the other side of the story out.

5) Examine your own media habits. Is it fair and balanced?

6) Be proactive with the media rather than reactive. If there is something going on important in your area and you or someone you know is an expert on the topic contact the media and let them know that this person is available for research or interview.

7) Write to the editor. You may not get published and that is Okay. However your letter may be the only source to broaden the editor’s perspective in the matter.

8) Be polite. Don’t fuel a stereotype or give reason for someone to be further distanced from wanting to cooperate in getting the full story.

9) Don’t give up. Like Monica praying for Augustine keep plugging ahead. Who knows what good might be going on even if you are not aware of it?