Africans warn numerical growth has to be matched by 'tools of liberation'
- Dec 9, 2019
Here’s a thought: Given the tendency on Twitter and other social media platforms to start tossing bombs in reaction to articles before people have read anything beyond the headline, how about a Lenten discipline of refusing to tweet until you’ve read the entire text and paused 30 seconds?
Five minutes talking to people in any bar or coffee shop in Rome, or anywhere with a semi-strong Catholic culture, is enough to suggest that the media frame of “Francis-lovers v. traditionalist wackos” doesn’t do justice to the reality of Catholic conversation in the Pope Francis era.
If there were an Apostle’s Creed for journalists, encapsulating the core and time-honored beliefs of the trade, it would probably include these two points: First, facts matter, and second, if you’re going to tell a story, get the context right. Recently at ‘Crux’, we’ve had occasion to do some healthy self-criticism on both fronts.