“You wanted to show me first and foremost how you thwart the proud but give grace to the humble.” While prudence may be the charioteer of the virtues, St. Augustine holds firm that humility is the foundation of virtue in his Confessions. This humility is not simply pertinent to the spiritual life; rather, it is applicable to all facets of every soul’s daily life. The art, and duty, of written word today has been plagued with a lack of this virtue.
If you pick up today’s copy of The New York Times, chances are (or rather it’s almost a guarantee) you will be met with headlines with the most negative of connotations surrounding this nation’s current president. Whether it be the latest about immigration or the economy, the title of each article is written to inspire poor thoughts about President Trump. On the opposite side of this coin, your average Fox News headline regarding the current president will show him in a much more positive light. Is it the journalist’s job to intentionally sway public opinion? Is it their job to force their, or their corporation’s, narrative on the reader? Tim Carney, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and senior columnist at the Washington Examiner, and St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, would disagree.
On authentic journalism, Carney asserts two pillars: independence and faithfulness. When addressing a room of collegiate writers and editors, Carney stated: “you have to be seeking the truth independent of what other people are telling you.” Per Aquinas, the truth must be the conformity of the mind to reality, it cannot be prodded in different directions by an editor or an agenda. Truth is perfectly objective, and imperfect man must limit his stain on it. The journalist’s job is to deliver objective truth, not their truth or their publication’s truth. It must be the closest thing to objective truth that is written for the reader. Therefore, the journalist must demonstrate humility and not intentionally take perfect truth into his own hands.
Regarding faithfulness, Carney declares, “one of the problems with contemporary journalism is people who have no grounding. You need to know what you believe.” The publication you hold in your hands at theis moment is grounded in the True, Good, and Beautiful – the Catholic faith. It is grounded in reality and how man must conform to it; it is grounded in the goodness that is God; it is grounded in the beauty that adorns virtue. However, despite being grounded in the perfection of Our Lord, the journalist must be aware of his inherent imperfections, his inadequacies. The journalist must realize his desperate need for the Lord to assist him in his understanding of truth.
Augustine would posit that a greater sense of intellectual humility is needed in this field. The journalist must grow in his practice of intellectual humility, which is the understanding of one’s faults but the recognition of one’s duty to promulgate the truth. One must find the mean between arrogance and diffidence, in order to achieve such an end. One cannot overvalue one’s own words and beliefs; this would be prideful and assuming. However, one cannot undervalue one’s words and beliefs to the point that they believe it not worth sharing, not fit to be seen by others. The humble must root themselves and their work in the pursuit of perfect truth, which is defined by the Divine, and not human wisdom.
“You wanted to show me first and foremost how you thwart the proud but give grace to the humble.” While prudence may be the charioteer of the virtues, St. Augustine holds firm that humility is the foundation of virtue in his Confessions. This humility is not simply pertinent to the spiritual life; rather, it is applicable to all facets of every soul’s daily life. The art, and duty, of written word today has been plagued with a lack of this virtue.
If you pick up today’s copy of The New York Times, chances are (or rather it’s almost a guarantee) you will be met with headlines with the most negative of connotations surrounding this nation’s current president. Whether it be the latest about immigration or the economy, the title of each article is written to inspire poor thoughts about President Trump. On the opposite side of this coin, your average Fox News headline regarding the current president will show him in a much more positive light. Is it the journalist’s job to intentionally sway public opinion? Is it their job to force their, or their corporation’s, narrative on the reader? Tim Carney, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and senior columnist at the
In the journalist’s pursuit of truth, he must be docile and submissive to the promptings of the Lord. The journalist does not define truth; if he alone tried, he would be incorrect. He must implore the help of God.
The beauty of the words of the saints is in their timelessness. In his Confessions, Augustine states, “My swollen pride got in the way and kept me from you, and my face was so puffy that my eyes were closed.” Centuries after the publication of this text, today’s media landscape is made up of different versions of the truth, many having no firm grounding. The journalist of today is forced into a position of intellectual arrogance, for opinion is cheap, but news is expensive. They cannot afford to be diffident, for diffidence does not pay. The lean towards arrogance seems necessary for survival in today’s media climate, but it is a step too far beyond humility. It takes little reliance on God to write a headline designed to maximize engagement and viewership, whether or not the content is worthy of such an introduction. Per Augustine, “their thinking has been frittered away into futility and their foolish hearts are benighted, for in claiming to be wise they have become stupid.”
Authentic journalism must evolve from this. An internal kenosis, an emptying of oneself to greater allow the Lord into one’s work, is necessary to restore journalistic integrity. If the journalist embraces this self-emptying and prayerfully relies on God to assist his understanding of truth, he can better do his duty to the reader. “He will guide the gentle aright and teach the unassuming his ways,” says Augustine. The Lord’s ways are the truth, the truth that the journalist should so desperately seek. The journalist will not find this truth with vision obscured by a swollen, puffy face. Self-emptying cannot occur if the journalist is filled to the brim with pride.
Humility might not be the first solution that comes to mind when aiming to address the lack of authentic journalism in today’s media, but it is the step that must be taken. Humility of the mind, of the intellect is so often overlooked. One can aim to act with humility, but to think with humility? That is a different matter. It is tempting to think that one’s thoughts and ideas are their own and those can deliver truth, but there is a great lack of reverence in this. There is a great lack of reverence for the author of truth, the Lord. The journalist must revere the Lord for the gift of truth, and understand the responsibility of delivering it humbly.
