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Did the Greens influence the Papal Vote?

Unless you live in another Galaxy, you'll know that we now have a new Pope.  Probably not a new, more liberal Catholic Church, but a new Pope all the same. In annoiting Ratzinger, the vatican has voted for some continuity of John Paul's policies.  This signals an endorsement of the church's most conservative teachings and views.  Couple his views with his snow-white hair, piercing blue eyes and soft German accent (I think he looks a bit sinister), he'll be a bundle of funs that's for sure.

I wonder if those silly, irrelevent wombats over at the Australian Greens had anything to do with Ratzinger's transformation into Pope Benedict XVI? 

Following reports that George Pell, the Arch bishop of Sydney, had emerged as a dark horse to become the next Pope, Greens MP Lee Rhiannon fired off a note  to the Vatican urging the Catholic Church to deny the ultra conservative leader a promotion to head the church…

Who the hell she thinks she is has got me stuffed.  Silly old duck isn't even a Catholic.

I await the the letter from the new Pope urging the Greens to dump Lee Rhiannon...

Pope Media Watch: Balancing the Ledger

Continuing with my media watch theme following the Pope's death...

Now that the massive media outpouring outpouring of grief and respect following the Pope’s death some media commentators are turning to his other legacies, here's a sample:

In The Australian, Philip Adams says

"Now is the time to talk about the Pope and death, of his record on the life and death issues of life, from the Holocaust to AIDS, from the war in Iraq to the electric chair.”

Adams concludes that the Pope’s decision not to change his policy on the condom is the one bad decision, which eclipses all else, a “monstrous folly” which will follow the Pope to his grave.   Anti Aids campaigners not surprisingly concur.

And in The Guardian, under the heading “The Pope has blood on his hands”, Terry Eagleton slams the Pope's authoritarian regime as "one of the greatest disasters for the Christian church since Charles Darwin"

And there’s a really interesting article by the San Franciso Chronicle’s religion writer, Don Lattin, on what it was like to cover the Pope as a journalist.

And of course there is commentary looking at what the new Pope should do better.

The Media Cometh (as The Pope go-eth)

Two things have struck me following the death of Pope John Paul II; first the overwhelming media coverage that is occurring and the weirdness of the rituals that the Catholic hierarchy must undertake to finalise JP's exit and to elect a his successor.

But, it is the MASSIVE media coverage that really had me stunned.  I don't live in a country with an overwhelming Catholic population, so the hero-worship type media reaction seemed all a bit much for me.  But after some discussion with some friends today, we came up with three reasons that it really shouldn't be all that surprising that we are being served up such extensive and blanket coverage.

First of all, no-one can dictate what stories are “worth” coverage. I guess the media is a market, and the value of a story is as intangible and unpredictable as the price of gold.  Any story that gets traction does so because, in the story market, it has proven to be a good story…it sells papers, grabs eyeballs or ears.

Secondly, "Famous people dying” stories are always covered.  And when the death has the lingering drama and suspense of the Pope's death it becomes an extremely proposition for any news desk. They’re dead easy (pardon me) to cover, especially in the case of a lingering illness: the story IS the medical report, plus a bit of bio. And you only have to scan any of the "wrap-around" features (that are probably in every paper that has been printed today) to recognise that the eulogies and memorials are all pre-written, the tributes, the celebratory biographies, the excerpts from his writing…it was all lined up maybe years in advance, ready to flood the news when he did finally die.

The last reason is that, well, he was the Pope; the only man on the planet whose job description actually says that he, and he alone, is infallible on matters of faith and dogma, and receives instructions from God on our behalf. And approximately twenty percent of the people on the planet believe that.

The sum of all of that equals a week unprecedented column space and news items.  Of course it will continue on through the politics of the weird and intriguing election process that will see a new Pope anointed.  And if the weekend TV news ratings are anything to go by, we'll be attentive to every bit of it.

Still on the media, and just to prove that some sections of the media just couldn't wait for the Pope to die,  the US Fox News Channel reported the death of Pope John Paul II last Friday – a day before he died.

But because it wasn't the kind of mistake that could be buried or overlooked in the usual Fox News way (ignore it), the network was forced to backpedal several minutes later, and then apologise to viewers for the mistake.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith did it in true Fox News style, telling viewers that:

"The exact time of death, I think, is not something that matters so much at this moment, for we will be reliving John Paul's life for many days and weeks and even years and decades and centuries to come."

The Passing of a Pope and The Coming of the Media

Pope John Paul II, whose globetrotting papacy inspired millions but left a divided Church, died overnight, ending years of painful physical decline for the Polish prelate once referred to as "God's Athlete."

I am not a Catholic, but certainly admire the JPII for his courage, leadership, dedication and strength which enabled him to recreate history during his 26-year papacy, including  precipitating the fall of Soviet communism. Some other key facts about his reign here.

So now the 123 voting cardinals from around the world have been called to the Vatican to elect a new pope at the Sacred College of Cardinals. Time.com has a detailed explanation of the succession process here.

And far from being in mourning, the world's media will be in a frenzy as they fight and bully each other to bring news, analysis and reaction to the world; the best so far has been this from the Economist (no surprise there).

But AP has produced an interesting story on the quiet preparations that have been made by US television networks for when the big event happened. A CBS News executive travelled to Rome when the Pope's health problem began to negotiate a ten-year lease for the rights to broadcast from the roof of a hotel overlooking St Peter's Square.

That was nine years ago...