The role of the media in human rights education

16. In order to promote the culture of human rights, everyone has the duty to educate for peace; but the media have an important role in this area (cf. John Paul II, Message for World Day of Peace 2000, n. 12). Given the prodigious and positive development of the means of social communication, the Church recalls that the responsibilities of the individuals using them have become still greater. In fact, serious risks are involved, not so much with regard to the techniques used as to the content of what is communicated. Those responsible for information must never forget their duties to society as a whole. The first of these concerns the common good, for "society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2494). In communicating information, therefore, the primary duty is truth (cf. Communicationis Socialis Praepositi, Communication et progrès, n. 34:  AAS 63 [1971], 606); but a corollary of this is that the right to communicate the truth is not unconditional (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2488). This right must be guided by charity, because it is not an end in itself; the private life and reputation of people must be respected, as must the common good.

Moreover, public authorities have the important responsibility of guaranteeing this freedom within the framework of respect for the common good (On these points, cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Instruments of Social Communication Inter mirifica, nn. 3-12). In particular, they should avoid letting serious prejudices enter society by the means of communication, and especially that they do not transmit racist and discriminatory messages, as sometimes happens, for example, through the Internet. In the world of today, the new information technologies have a great impact on the lives of individuals and peoples. This is a phenomenon which offers great possibilities, but which also has its dangers:  "The fact that a few countries have a monopoly on these cultural "industries' and distribute their products to an ever growing public in every corner of the earth can be a powerful factor in undermining cultural distinctness. These products include and transmit implicit value-systems, and can therefore lead to a kind of dispossession and loss of cultural identity in those who receive them" (John Paul II, Message for World Day of Peace 2001, n. 11).