All Pope, All the Time: What's Happened to Our Media?

Do our media have any conception of how much of a non-story this is to non-Catholics? One would assume that America is a Roman Catholic Country (or a lover of fundamentalist creeds), and that the world awaits instructions from the Pope--at least, that is, if one has had any contact with radio, T.V., or newsprint over the past three weeks. The coverage of this quasi-royal passing of the scepter to a new vicar of Christ on earth, and the property rights to a gargantuan Roman Church, has been a radio and T.V. extravaganza coming (as fate would have it) during a lull in entertainment offerings--to wit: the end of the NCAA basketball tournament; major league baseball just starting; hockey playoffs cancelled; football in hibernation except for the announcement that Monday night games will now be carried by ESPN. On top of the calm in the sports world, we have no elections in Iraq at the moment, a boring genocide proceeding apace in Sudan, and people in the US pretty much reconciled to Tom Delay, John Bolton, and the “nuclear option.” So, Papal pomp suffices for now to fill the void in our universe of pop culture, brought to you by media monopolies that deliver groupthink with reliable regularity. The Roman Catholic Church is, at best, controversial, even among practicing Catholics. In view of the bad publicity related to pedophile priests, massive litigation, and predictable stonewalling at the bishopric level, one would think even papal passing would be handled in a delicate and understated way, but, alas, the press has decided that this is really important and newsworthy and is not a ludicrous farce. [more]