Vatican's semi-official newspaper may be suffering from a 'fake news' problem

(OPINION) The Vatican gets its fair share of coverage from news organizations around the world. Even those newspapers who don’t have a dedicated religion beat writer have Vatican coverage in its pages, either in the form of a foreign correspondent or via subscribing to wire services such as The Associated Press or Reuters.

It isn’t lost on Pope Francis that the news media ecosystem, saying this past May that journalists should use the power of the press to search for the truth and give voice to the voiceless.

Conservative news websites in the United States have increasingly set their sights on Francis in recent years. Catholic news sites that lean left doctrinally have also have a strong readership. Both need to be read by journalists who cover the Vatican and the pope. Another source they need to read is L’Osservatore Romano, a once great and influential newspaper that has over the years declined in both influence and stature.

For those who have never heard of it, L’Osservatore Romano is a daily newspaper printed in Italian with weekly editions in six languages, including English, and once a month in Polish.

The newspaper reports on the activities of the Holy See and owned by the Vatican — but is not considered an official publication. The Holy See’s official publication is the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, which acts as a government gazette. The views expressed in L’Osservatore Romano are those of individual writers unless they appear under the byline “Nostre Informazioni” (Italian for “Our Information”) or “Santa Sede” (Holy See). In other words, one needs a media literacy course in order to fully understand what this newspaper is reporting.

The publication founded in 1861 — and available at newspaper stands across Rome, via subscription and online — continues to play a major role in interpreting the papacy and the role of the Vatican in the loves of Roman Catholics around the world. Problematic for the Vatican’s semi-official newspaper has been its editorial standards as of late. I say semi-official since the pope appoints the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. In this case, Pope Francis appointed Andrea Monda, a lay person, to lead the newspaper’s editorial direction in December 2018. The pope’s appointment seems to mirror that of the people he’s put in charge to run the Vatican’s press office, which critics say has triggered more doctrinal ambiguity.   

In a world of fake news, this is one of those publications that needs to maintain a high standard. Maybe it’s just a reflection of the ambiguity that’s coming out of Rome these days. Either way, it remains a newspaper journalists should read and one that continues to matter to a swath of Catholics, primarily in Europe. The other major factor regarding the newspaper’s editorial U-turn was the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. Like so many U.S. newspapers, L’Osservatore Romano sees itself as the global resistance to Trump’s agenda. The newspaper has not been a fan of the U.S. president since the start, perhaps a reflection of the pope’s own disagreements with Trump.

The newspaper has also been dogged by controversy that seems to be affecting its stature among Catholic readers throughout Italy and the world. It no longer seems to be the same publication that in 2006 Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone described as “an instrument for spreading the teachings of the successor of Peter and for information about church events.” Instead, there have been instances of sloppy reporting with a lack of objective news coverage.

Despite its opposition to Trump, facts are facts and misreporting a story is still a no-no for any newspaper that wants to maintain credibility. Is it too much to ask for news articles to be unbiased and fact based? The Italian language daily edition dated November 7 may be a prime example of what to expect next year once the U.S. presidential election hits full steam. In a page one story that appeared below the fold of the paper edition, the newspaper reported on Election Day under the headline “Negative electoral test for Trump.” You can read the PDF version in Italian here. Here’s a translation of the first paragraph and the start of a glaring example of how badly coverage has become:  

Sour results for Donald Trump in the electoral “Super Tuesday” in four American states, considered a test ahead of the 2020 vote. The Republicans could lose the majority in three of four states where gubernatorial and state house elections were held. The results confirm the victory of Democrats in New Jersey, traditionally a blue state. In Mississippi, a Republican state, the win by the Grand Old Party did not come as a surprise.

The story, which appeared with no byline, went on to include a major inaccuracy and a few omissions. The lede incorrectly referred to the day as “Super Tuesday” — a day that will actually take place on March 3, 2020 in reference to the presidential primaries.

The article also included just one quote, from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, declaring that the state was officially blue after Democrats took the statehouse. No context here regarding a mention of Northam’s blackface controversy and his comments regarding abortion of the past few months. The piece had also included a mention that New Jersey had remained blue, as if the state had ever been red. The last Republican presidential candidate to win New Jersey was George H.W. Bush in 1988.  

Content isn’t the only problem. Back in March, the director and editorial staff of a Vatican-operated women’s magazine resigned. Here’s how Catholic News Service reported on the resignations: 

Claiming a lack of support for open dialogue and for an editorial line run by women, the director and editorial staff of a Vatican women's magazine have resigned.

But the editor of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, which publishes the magazine, countered that he has given the staff "the same total autonomy and freedom" that have marked its work since it began.

“There is a return to the clerical self-referentiality and an abandonment of that 'parrhesia' (courage) so often asked for by Pope Francis," said Lucetta Scaraffia, founder and director of “Women-Church-World," a monthly supplement to L'Osservatore Romano.

In December, Pope Francis appointed Andrea Monda, an Italian journalist and religion teacher, to be editor of L'Osservatore Romano.

The new management at the newspaper has not shown support for the magazine's mission and has tried to "weaken" it by launching initiatives that "seem competitive, with the result of pitting women against each other, instead of encouraging open discussion," Scaraffia wrote in an editorial that was to be published in the supplement's April 1 issue.

Scaraffia sent Catholic News Service a copy of the editorial March 26 and a copy of an open letter to Pope Francis, explaining their resignation.

Monda’s choice of new writers for L'Osservatore Romano and his suggestion of new writers for the supplement, Scaraffia said, suggests she and the editorial board are no longer seen as trustworthy and has closed the door to any chance of "true, free and courageous dialogue among women who love the church in freedom and with men taking part," she said in the editorial.  

This story got very little play in English-language media. Nonetheless, it highlights some of the internal squabbles that have dictated recent coverage. The publication, a monthly insert started in 2012, had the support and encouragement of both Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, had been founded to be both independent and run by women. The October edition of the magazine, for example, featured climate change activist Greta Thunberg on its cover. It also still maintains an all-female staff, but some stories are clearly to the left politically.

Amid rising tensions with conservative Catholics in the United States, Francis became the target of a fake version of L’Osservatore Romano just a few years back. In it, the pope clarifies his position on a series of issues by saying both yes and no. The Independent, a British newspaper, reported the following in 2017 at the time of the incident:

The spoof story is believed be a reference to the Pope’s lack of reply to four cardinals who asked him to further explain his position on inviting divorced and remarried Catholics to communion, an issue which has been particularly contentious.

The move was without precedence in the Church and caused considerable controversy.

Unlike the fake news which came to prominence during the US election - which deliberately poses as real and is spread as far and wide as possible via the internet – the news page is more easily recognizable as a spoof  and is written in a humorous style.

It has also reportedly been circulating through emails and Whatsapp, and is thought to have initially been sent to a few cardinals.

It is suspected to have been made up by conservative opponents to the Pope, whose liberal declarations, such speaking sympathetically on LGBT rights and abortion, have caused some unease in the Catholic Church.

As this mock edition suggests, L’Osservatore Romano still carries some influence and theological weight. It has unfortunately failed to live up to the journalistic standards it was once known for, while doing a fairly mediocre job of upholding Catholic teachings.

This post originally appeared at GetReligion.