Task 2

LO2: Use political communication to shape the public’s opinion and set the agenda of own organization

It is easy to forget the accurate definition of Christmas these days. That's why Pope Francis has offered pilgrims and Christians his "short guide to Christmas." For the Pope, the most valuable rule is to make room for Baby Jesus.

Helena Dalli, who is the European Commissioner for Equality, faced a considerable amount of criticism after a working document concerning communication guides for EU staff leaked to the press. People across the continent were utterly enraged at the guidelines set by the document which, among other things encourage; Workers to avoid using ‘Happy Christmas where not everybody is Christian; to avoid addressing an audience as ladies and gentlemen; to stop using Mrs when addressing women and; to avoid using solely Christian names when bringing examples of people living in the EU.

The Pope too expressed a response to the document, going as far as to examine in contrast these actions as those carried out by Nazi dictatorships and communists. On his flight back to Rome from Athens, he told journalists that the document was ‘watered-down secularism’. The Vatican leader said that we should be careful not to be vehicles of ideological colonization and that is why the Christmas issue is an anachronism (chronological misplacements of persons, objects, or events).

The document, Pope Francis insisted, was an anachronism, as the suppression of Christmas was something many dictatorships had attempted to do in the past.

“Think of Napoleon: from there… think of the Nazi dictatorship, the communist ones… it is a fashion of a watered-down secularism, distilled water… but this is something that throughout hasn’t worked,” the Pope said.

However, he mentioned that the document led him to reflect on the EU, stating that the bloc must follow the ideals of its founding fathers – ideals of unity and greatness – and avoid pursuing a path of “ideological colonization.” This path, he said, could end up dividing countries and causing the EU to fail.

While the Pope gave priority to the fact that he did not believe that this was the goal of the document, he said that the EU needed to be cautious to ensure that each country’s peculiarities are respected, even as each country remains open to others. The constitutional document was picked up on by the Italian tabloid il Giornale, which led to a torrent of abuse on social media as well as from a senior official in the Vatican, far-right politicians, and a former EU commissioner. The guidelines did not go down well. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and one of the highest officials inside the Holy See, told Vatican News: “Of course, we know that Europe owes its existence and its identity to numerous contributions, but we certainly can’t forget that one of its main contributions, if not the main one, has been Christianity itself.”

“The European Commission, through an internal document, considers the Christmas celebrations as insufficiently inclusive,” Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, wrote on her Facebook page. “In the name of a sinister ideology, it wants to suppress the culture of a people. Our history and our identity can’t be canceled, they must be respected.” Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s right-wing League, quoted Meloni’s criticism. He called the Commission’s guidelines a “folly,” and later mocked its content. “Mary, the mother. John, the father. Long live the holy Christmas … I hope that in Europe, no one will be offended,” he tweeted.

The European Parliament and the European Council have both expressed similar recommendations to the Commission, but they were less explicit in their examples. In January 2018, the Council expressed its guidelines to advertise the use of “gender-neutral nouns that make no assumption about whether it is a man or woman who does a particular job or plays a particular role.”

The role of the Vatican and the EU Commissioner is different. The Vatican is the most important of the largest and most centralized religious organization in the world. It is also a dominant state with tactful representatives across the globe. The Vatican, as a religious power, often challenges civil authorities in areas of international economics, human rights, and security. The European Commission is the EU's politically liberal executive arm. It is alone accountable for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

Antonio Tajani of Italy's center-right Forza Italia party and the president of the constitutional affairs commission of the European Parliament acclaimed the retraction of the guidelines. “Viva Natale!” (“Long live Christmas!”), Tajani tweeted. “Long live a Europe of common sense.” Dalli went on to say that the guidelines “clearly need more work... I, therefore, withdraw the guidelines and will work further on this document,” the commissioner tweeted.

Different media industries interpret this message differently. The article of the Vatican News, mainly focused on the Pope himself since the majority of those who watch their site. The Times of Malta article mainly focused on Helena Dalli, since this is a portal in Malta and the main focus was on the EU commissioner that was forced to pull communication guidelines. While researching, I searched both locally and internationally about this topic to see in what way it was portrayed. The article published by the Malta Independent was mainly focused on how the Pope's ideology was different than Helena Dalli's decision. An article published by The Guardian focused on what happened with regards to Dalli's decision and who tweeted what about this subject.

The Uses and Gratification theory discusses the effects of the media on people. It explains how people use the media for their own needs and get satisfied when their needs are fulfilled. By explanation, it can be said that the theory argues what people do with media rather than what media does to people. Also, this theory is in contradiction to the Magic Bullet theory, which states that the audience is passive. This theory is applicable to the two articles by the Vatican News and the Times of Malta. The Vatican News viewers are religious and so they get satisfied with the religious values that are written and therefore the Pope is treated like a god. The article of the Times of Malta uses the gratification theory, mainly self-actualization since it explains the main focus of Helena Dalli.

As Scannell and Cardiff, 'struggle to establish an independent press, both as a source of information about the activities of the state and as a forum for the formation and expression of public opinion, an important aspect of long battle as full representation in the system of democratic governance'(1991, p. 10). The quality of journalism, in the words of one observer, generates the information necessary for the smooth public sphere and political parties of the government. It is common knowledge about policies - comprehensive social events and movements that are distanced from the materiality of everyday life '(Fiske, 1992, p. 49). This relates to the two articles given by the lecturer since it describes an event that is happening in today's society.

In 1964 Canadian educator, philosopher, and media theorist of the University of Toronto Marshall McLuhanOffsite Link published Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. "In it, McLuhan proposed that media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study — popularly quoted as the medium is the message'. McLuhan's insight was that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not by the content delivered over the medium, but by the characteristics of the medium itself. The characteristics of the Times of Malta's article was that Helena Dalli tried a new initiative and it did not succeed. It included quotes, a feature, and a tweet. The characteristics of the Vatican News are that it is informal since it's conversational and the questions that are being asked to the Pope.

For some, their religion provides a concrete moral framework for how they should act, speak, or make decisions in their daily life. They may not even attend a religious institution and simply follow the rules of their religion for themselves. For others, religion has a community-wide aspect in their life.

References:

• Communication Theory (2018). uses and gratification theory. [online] Communication Theory. Available at: https://www.communicationtheory.org/uses-and-gratification-theory/.

• www.historyofinformation.com. (n.d.). Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium is the Message” : History of Information. [online] Available at: https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=2781.

• www.independent.com.mt. (n.d.). Pope decries Helena Dalli’s Christmas document as “anachronism” akin to that of Nazi dictatorship - The Malta Independent. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2021-12-07/local-news/Pope-decries-Helena-Dalli-s-Christmas-document-as-anachronism-akin-to-that-of-Nazi-dictatorship-6736238914

• the Guardian. (2021). EU advice on inclusive language withdrawn after rightwing outcry. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/eu-advice-on-inclusive-language-withdrawn-after-rightwing-outcry.

• www.vaticannews.va. (2021). Pope: “The EU document on Christmas is anachronistic” - Vatican News. [online] Available at: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-12/pope-the-eu-document-on-christmas-is-anachronistic.html?classId=e388f9a8-448a-459b-b6e0-a24d9cb513e2&assignmentId=5666b063-e724-4fdc-add5-5b38afabface&submissionId=5a6783b4-a478-1c56-bc75-cecd7ade14a8

• Cordina, J.P. (2021). EU advice against saying Christmas “anachronistic” – the Pope. [online] Newsbook. Available at: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/eu-advice-against-saying-christmas-anachronistic-the-