Catholic media attend national consultation, agree on professionalism

Panaji – Various Catholic editors, publishers, journalists and other media–persons converged early this month in Pilar, Goa, to discuss new visions, strategies, priorities and goals of Christian publications in India.

The theme of the meeting was entitled, “Should Christian Publications Step Out of the Church Walls?”

President of the Indian Catholic Press Association, Mr. Michael Gonsalves, welcomed the gathering and vice–president, Fr. Adolf Washington, moderated the discussion. Some 150–odd Catholic media persons attended the meeting.

In his opening speech, president of the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA), Mr. Michael Gonsalves, said: “We’ve all gathered here to discuss and seek together ways to professionalise publications and market them effectively.”

Speaking on the occasion, the author and editor of the Indore–based Renaissance weekly, Fr. Varghese Alengadan, lambasted the ‘ostrich–like attitude’ of the Church hierarchy and called for a revamp of the text and content of Christian publications.

Mooting the idea of having a Church–run national weekly, he asked, “Are our publications prophetic to the nation or are they catering to a limited few?” Lamenting that the imperialistic agenda of the Church had resulted in her failure to develop her own identity in the national mainstream media, Fr. Alengadan said that the “colonial legacy,” the trend to work in isolation and “imported set of beliefs” were proving to be “blocks” facing the progress of the Church publications.

Mr. Vincent D’Souza, editor–proprietor of the Chennai–based Mylapore Times, stressed on the need to “map” a community before targeting the audience for a publication. According to him, apart from professional skills and locally available resources, the marketing aspect of a publication should be attended to in detail. The editor ought to be innovative to economically survive in the business, he added.

As a marketing strategy, he said he reserved a certain percentage of the publication for free distribution in public places and appealed to the editors present to be “on the go’ and “get personal.”

Freelance journalist, Mr. Frederick Noronha, said most Catholic publications were “irrelevant” and called for “keeping up with the mainstream media trends.”

He advocated documentation, building links with those involved in social issues and improving the getup of the publication with wide relevance.

Mr. Noronha also called upon the Church to invest in grooming a new breed of “journalists with a difference” by having sustainable institutes of journalism.

In an interactive session, Redemptorist Fr. Desmond D’Souza, formerly an official of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference, said Catholic publications should concentrate on quality and dignity of life.

Earlier, Fr. Henry D’Souza, executive secretary of the CBCI Commission for Social Communications, in his inaugural address, called for making Christian publications more interactive. He bemoaned the fact that some stories used were week–old and some even a month old.

Admitting that the Church publications were touchy about criticisms against priests, he said the Church publications ought to have a section devoted to dissenting views. “Otherwise, the criticisms will spill onto the mainstream media.”

He also called for revaluation and introspection “of our vision” amongst those in the publishing field.

Chief correspondent of Deccan Herald, Goa–based Ms. Devika Sequeira, said Christian publications should carry more “voices of women” on various issues affecting them.