NORTH CAROLINA
The Pendulum
by Stephanie Lamm on April 6, 2014
On April 4, Elon’s Society of Professional Journalists, the School of Communications, and the Truitt Center hosted Nicole Winfield, Vatican correspondent for the Associated Press. Winfield discussed the balance between critical and delicate coverage when reporting on religious figures as well as the stories she covered in her years at the Vatican.
The night opened with a somber reminder of the sacrifices journalists make to preserve freedom of the press. Two of Winfield’s AP colleagues, Anja Niedringhaus and Kathy Gannon, were killed last week while covering the conflict in Afghanistan.
“I have a pretty low risk assignment, but there is another side of reporting. Religious reporting can be particularly dangerous,” said Winfield. “Religion matters to people; they take it very seriously.” …
“Don’t let Francis’ positive appeal mislead you; he’s a conservative Catholic,” said Winfield. “He doesn’t care for a lot of ‘small minded rules,’ but there are some rules that form the core of church doctrine. Those won’t change. He is still against abortion and gay marriage.”
Several students who attended the lecture remarked that they did not know Francis’ comment had been misconstrued.
“I was surprised to hear her say Pope Francis is a conservative pope,” said sophomore Shelby Lewis. “You always hear the media frame him as a champion of social justice. It’s interesting to hear that many of his quotes have been taken out of context.” …
Winfield called her reporting style “informed, critical coverage.” Having reported on the sex abuse scandal, tense interfaith relations and Pope Benedict XVI’s controversial stance on condom use, Winfield said covering the Vatican is not a always a comfortable job.
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