I’m not sure what significance the "Vatican-endorsed" part of it means, and the article is really not clear on that. Is there money? Is it "sponsored?" Does it have the official Vatican Stamp of Approval? Will it be under the Vatican Press Office? I don’t get it, but perhaps I’m just dense.
A Vatican-endorsed TV news service will attempt to bring to the video age the same style of church-friendly reporting associated with the Zenit News Agency, an on-line project launched in 1998 with ties to Regnum Christi, the lay branch of the Legionaries of Christ.
The new “H2O” broadcast service – named, organizers say, for water as the symbol of life – is intended as a video news source available through the Internet, on cell phones with video capability, as well as through conventional Catholic television networks. The project was formally presented at an Oct. 10-12 world conference of Catholic television providers in Madrid, Spain, convened by the Vatican.
Initially, plans call for “H2O,” with offices in Rome, to produce five daily news items of one and a half to two minutes each: two on the activity of the pope, two on the church in other parts of the world, and one of artistic and cultural interest. Interviews with Catholic newsmakers and, to the extent possible, overviews of new Vatican documents will also be part of the mix.
The news items will be free of charge to Catholic TV networks which choose to broadcast them, and to Internet users. Initially, “H2O” will emphasize delivery on the Internet, attempting to reach the estimated 20 million users of Catholic web sites worldwide.
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Privately, Vatican sources told NCR that another factor weighed in the decision to launch an official TV service. In some Vatican quarters, sources said, there has long been concern that networks such as EWTN are becoming the “voice of the church” in the broadcast arena, without any oversight from church officials. The idea of a Vatican-sponsored news outlet, these sources said, thus restores a measure of “control” over the message.
This becomes a sore point, sources said, when Catholic TV outlets for one reason or another downplay aspects of the church’s message. Some Vatican officials, for example, feel EWTN did not give adequate attention to the church’s criticism of the Iraq war for fear of alienating conservative American Catholics. In other cases, sources said, there’s concern that some Catholic TV services are run by personnel who may not be fully supportive of church teaching on issues such as sexual morality or papal authority.
A preview of the H2O web site can be found here: H2O News
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