Here’s a story of one guy’s experience working at a diocesan newspaper. Perhaps there’s some exaggeration, perhaps not. (That the article appears in The Remnant is not a great endorsement for me.) But it does track with other people I know who have worked at diocesan newspapers have told me of their experiences, even if they weren’t quite as bad.
Most diocesan newspapers have become little more than the official expression of the will of the local bishop and maintain the mandate to not rock the boat and defend the bishop in all things, truth or justice be damned. The best newspapers remain bland and inoffensive. The worst ones, like the one in the story above, intentionally obfuscate the truth in order to promulgate a false image. As an example, can anyone name a diocesan newspaper that broke the story of a sex-abusing priest, took a bishop or any Church official to task for cover up, or ever criticized heterodoxy within the diocese? Or did so with the editor keeping his job?
By the way, I’m told the diocese in the story is the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, and the bishop is William Higi. Check out the web site for the newspaper, The Catholic Moment and look at the names on the masthead. They match some of the details in the story.
Update: A simple Google search confirms it. Go to this page and look at the photo credit for the second photo. It’s the author of the article.
Sean’s story is a Catholic version of “You’ll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again”.
Sean, don’t wait around for a nomination to become a Knight of the Holy Sepluchre.