By Michael Brown

In our 24/7 information age, consumers of news must struggle mightily to use the product wisely. And sorting through the growing volume of media to find facts, let alone truth, becomes even more complicated when traditional sources of news let you down.

This was driven home on the morning of April 9, when the Associated Press, the largest news gathering organization in the U.S., released a story through their wire service. This story involved a notorious local clergy sexual abuse case and their interpretation of how the Oakland Diocese and the Vatican managed the matter over the past 30 years.

The AP had obviously spent weeks researching and writing the story about historical events, never once calling current diocesan officials about the material being considered for publication. Such fact-checking — standard journalistic practice, proclaimed in AP’s own values statement — would typically be done to confirm information with primary sources.

This lapse is not inconsequential, especially given that the Associated Press claims that on any given day more than half the world’s population sees news stories it produces.

Lacking information that the Oakland Diocese would have made available if asked, the AP released a story creating the impression that the diocese and the Vatican did not take appropriate steps in the case of Stephen Kiesle. Just the opposite is true.

Thus, the page one story in this issue is Bishop Salvatore Cordileone’s explanation of how diocesan and Vatican responsibilities were handled in the Kiesle matter.

Additional information and analysis can be found on the diocesan web site: www.oakdiocese.org

(Michael Brown is communications director for the Oakland Diocese.)

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