The Deacon

In secular media a popular saying has been uttered in newsrooms nationwide: “If it bleeds it leads.” I know, because I spent 20 years in those newsrooms and heard it regularly, especially during daily editorial meetings. Most people don’t realize it’s not just a sarcastic phrase used by cynical reporters to justify one more sensational crime story or one more live shot from wreckage along the local highway. The news media know all too well that fear sells, and they are pros at using it to their advantage, because the research shows it works. And it works on all of us, including faithful Catholics, something we need to be aware of as we help our brothers and sisters to practice faithful citizenship at the polls this volatile election year.

The phrase also has some history dating back to the late 1890s when William Randolph Hearst used it after noticing that stories involving shocking or bad news were, guess what, stories that received the most attention. Psychology Today posted a detailed article over 10 years ago that still rings true in 2024. The magazine pointed to research showing fear-based stories “prey on the anxieties we all have and then hold us hostage.” Mental health experts say the dangerous trend dominating the media can cause adults and children to, among other things:

• Believe that their neighborhoods are unsafe.

• Overestimate their odds of becoming a victim.

• Consider the world to be a dangerous place overall.

We certainly saw this during COVID-19, and more recently in the past two years we’re seeing the fear factor being applied not only in news coverage but in over-the-top political ads that are nothing more than “if it bleeds it leads” on steroids. And nowhere is this more prominent than in the abortion debate.

In 2022, my network, Ave Maria Radio, made a concerted effort to educate listeners on the dangers of an extreme amendment known as Proposal 3, here in Michigan. Michigan was among the first to see such measures that led to enshrining a right to abortion into the state constitution, eliminating the most basic health and safety regulations at abortion mills, as well as allowing access to puberty blockers, life-altering surgeries, birth control and abortions for minors without requiring parental consent.

In addition to a steady flow of interviews with Church leaders, pro-life doctors, legal experts and those who run pregnancy resource centers, we also put together public service announcements that were picked up by several conservative news talk radio stations before election day. Despite these efforts, the proposal passed by a wide margin. Even the bishops said it never would have passed without the Catholic vote. Truth lost and the “fear factor” was victorious. Many voters in my audience shared that they were “scared” to vote against the proposal because they didn’t want women being turned away at hospitals, and they refused to believe that Proposal 3 was a Trojan horse.

So, what can be done to overcome fear-mongering? In addition to sharing crucial resources such as the U.S. bishops’ voting guide (from the USCCB), the most recent of which reminds us that abortion is our “preeminent priority,” deacons and their wives should also consider some form of media literacy to address the obvious influence the media are having on the faithful, especially since the latest research shows that adults consume 11 hours of media daily. This doesn’t have to be, nor should it be, complicated. It should just be an effort encouraging the flock to take a breath and think before they overreact to the latest emotional TikTok video or post on X. This can be done through simple steps such as:

• Incorporating media awareness into homilies, reminding Catholics of the “if it bleeds it leads” reality.

• Sending solid Catholic voting resources via e-blast or on parish Facebook pages.

• Writing bulletin articles referencing devastating election results in other states such as Michigan that have greatly compromised pro-life efforts.

• Engaging in one-on-one conversations concerning our responsibilities when it comes to faithful citizenship.

These simple steps can make all the difference and, God willing, allow truth to reign and the fear factor to fall, as we say in the news business, on the cutting room floor.

TERESA TOMEO is the host of “Catholic Connection,” produced by Ave Maria Radio, and the author of “Beyond Sunday: Becoming a 24/7 Catholic” (OSV, $14.95). She is married to Deacon Dom Pastore, an ordained deacon in the Archdiocese of Detroit.