Media must be 'word warriors'

Ethicist tells Catholic journalists to give people the words they need to protect their dignity

- CCN file photo Ethicist Margaret Somerville reminded Catholic communicators 'good ethics demand good facts.

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Toronto

Ethicist Margaret Somerville challenged members of Catholic media to become "word warriors" and ethics agents to give people "the words they need to protect human dignity."

"Words matter" because human dignity is under "unprecedented threat," Somerville told about 400 Catholic journalists and communications professionals. "A few words can turn the tide."

Somerville gave an example from a recent conference in Turkey, dealing with the ethics of selling human organs. Most participants shared a horror of organ trafficking and "organ tourism," but some were willing to consider the sale of organs because the organs are so scarce.

Organ slavery

Somerville said that at that conference she called the sale of human organs "the 21st century form of slavery." People used to sell the whole body, now they will sell bits and pieces of it, she said. Those words prompted spontaneous applause.

People need to be given the words so they can express what they believe ethically, she said, adding, "Give them the words to speak their truth."

Somerville, one of Canada's leading intellectuals, is the founding director of McGill University's Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law. She spoke at the Catholic Media Convention in Toronto May 28.

She noted that she has been criticized for saying in relation to euthanasia that "you can't have doctors killing their patients."

A broken trust

However, she said it has been proven that euthanasia laws do promote fear of the medical profession. When the Northern Territory state in Australia passed a euthanasia law, Aboriginal people stopped going to clinics or even having their children immunized for fear that doctors might kill them. The law was repealed in less than a year.

Somerville said she once suggested that if doctors should not be involved in euthanasia perhaps a specially trained group of lawyers could do it.

The response was a horrified "You can't have lawyers killing people," she said. This shift in the language helped people grasp what was at stake in euthanasia - killing people, not helping people die.

But Somerville warned against using overtly religious language.

"I'm sometimes deeply dismayed by language religious people use in the public square," she said. Not only is the language alienating; it makes it easier for opponents to dismiss the arguments as merely religious. A good secular or nonreligious argument can alter perspectives.

Though people are interested in spiritual and religious topics, they "need to be surprised by new, non-cliched insights," she said.

Keep your cool

She also urged respectful responses, even toward opponents who are disrespectful. She cringes when religious people attack their opponents.

"Good ethics require good facts," she said. Lies and deliberate omissions are never ethically acceptable.

Studies show people trust the media less than they trust government or business, so Somerville urged the building of trust.

Members of the media must ask themselves, "Who are we trying to persuade?" she said.

Even though Catholic media professionals appeal to a Catholic audience, those consumers also need to be equipped with good nonreligious arguments. How information is framed determines how it is received, she said.

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