BishopAccountability.org
	Local View: Newspaper's Coverage of Catholic Church and Sexual Abuse Unfair, Unbalanced You would think with the consistent, front-page coverage the News Tribune has given the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal that there must have been a flare-up of abuse or a coverup in the church. By Scott Pionk Duluth News Tribune May 23, 2010 http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/169493/group/Opinion/ You would think with the consistent, front-page coverage the News Tribune has given the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal that there must have been a flare-up of abuse or a coverup in the church. Yet, in 2009, of 223 reported cases investigated in the U.S., six were credible, according to Newsweek. In addition, there were approximately 3,000 cases investigated worldwide from 2001 to 2009. By contrast, between 1991 and 2000 there were 290,000 cases of sexual abuse reported in U.S. public schools. Still, two or three times a week lately, it seems, front-page headlines have focused on the Catholic Church and its handling of the problem. We've seen unfair, unbalanced reporting and stories with victims stating the church has done nothing to deal with the problem when, in fact, the steps the church has taken would fill pages of the News Tribune. The Newsweek article stated, "The Catholic Church in America has taken more rigorous action since 2002 to protect the young people in its care than any other similarly situated institution, to the point where the church is likely America's safest environment for young people." In addition, it could be argued that Pope Benedict XVI has done more than anyone on the planet to curb sex abuse in the church. But the angle we get is that he must have done something wrong 25 years ago. The News Tribune is painting a clueless picture of sex abuse in this country, portraying the Catholic Church as at the forefront of the problem. But our homes are by far the least safe place, with roughly 50 percent of abuse cases occurring there. Every report I came across in my research listed Protestant clergy as having similar or slightly higher rates of sexual abuse than Catholic priests, which would appear to debunk the celibacy theory. How is it the problem of sexual abuse in other areas of society always ends up on the inside pages of the paper? And why the unending scrutiny of the Catholic Church on the front pages? Is it the church's wealth and highly visible members who leave lawyers and journalists relishing every lead they get? Will pinning something, anything, on Pope Benedict write someone's name in history? It is, after all, "fantastic" journalism, as the News-Tribune's own Robin Washington put it. What I am starting to wonder is what will happen the next time an actual case of sex abuse is confirmed in the Catholic Church. Perhaps the News Tribune will give us a full-color insert to pull out and save. As a Catholic, my biggest problem with the News Tribune's redundant coverage is what it implies to our community, that the church is a struggling institution. One reader opined in a letter to the editor the church is "crumbling." Another was "astounded" that people actually give money to it. Yet the Catholic Church isn't crumbling in the U.S. It is gaining members, recently topping the 70 million mark. Across the U.S., more parishes have opened than closed. And should we not financially give to an organization that in turn gives to the poorest of the poor and the people of Haiti, Chile and China after their recent disasters? I am disappointed in the News Tribune's work on this subject. The coverage has gone from eye-opening to annoying to amusing. I see a small-town paper keeping a story alive every chance it gets in an effort to make itself relevant and perhaps to sell a few papers.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.