It’s funny when I think of it. The “Runaway Bride” story occurred in small-town USA, but got picked up by international media. And even after international interest has died down, a popular comic such as Non Sequitur still continues to reference it, which implies that interest over in the US still hasn’t.

Which begs the question (as well as the source of the father’s agony): What is news?

I personally have no standard answer. To me, news IS the info-tainment derided by the father in Non Sequitur. News is hearing about Michael Jackson’s acquittal. News is this morning’s Batman Begins special in Lifestyle. But news is also knowing that somewhere out there… there are people dying for the sometimes the silliest, sometimes the most tragic reasons. And yet life goes on.

Perhaps Gloria Borger said it best when she said “For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news.” In fact, Thomas Jefferson himself writes “I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it. “ And that seems to be the general cynical viewpoint on what truly makes the “news” today.

For what is news, but a constant reminder on the human condition? What is news, but a re-emphasis on the heights that human beings can rise to, or the depths from which there seem to be no return? What is news, if it is supposed to be a collection of facts, but remains distorted by branding or editorial biases? News is truth, gone horribly wrong.

The industry itself is full of self-serving people, each looking out for their own interests, or the interests of the company. All too often, the painstakingly prepared press releases from corporate communications executives are savagely ripped to shreds by media reporters, who only want the juicy story within. All too often, a story about love, or courage, or hope is distorted, ruined or taken out of context simply because media companies believe that the public is more interested in reading a human interest story about a “woman in a men’s world”.

The news is and should always be the business of truth.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” –John 8:31-32

In Pope John Paul II’s last message to the mass media, he writes “Modern technology places at our disposal unprecedented possibilities for good, for spreading the truth of our salvation in Jesus Christ and for fostering harmony and reconciliation.” He warns against misuse of the media and against a false portrayal of events, but reminds the world that “the media have enormous potential for promoting peace and building bridges between peoples”. To those in the industry, he reminds them of the Vatican II Council’s exhortation to know the “principles of the moral order and apply them faithfully”. Indeed, “Communicators have the opportunity to promote a true culture of life by distancing themselves from today’s conspiracy against life”. Let us all seek to report the truth in our lives.