It’s not secret that the blogosphere has been getting more respect from the MSM. Bloggers are now being used by MSM reporters as pundits to provide commentary on breaking events, and also as fodder for news stories. Blogs are also being cited as significant sources in some news stories.
What’s particularly interesting to me is watching this phenomena play out with JimmyAkin.Org. Over the last number of months I’ve been contacted by reporters who became aware of me through the blog rather than through Catholic Answers. I’ve been asked for comment and been invited on radio shows as an "interesting person" purely on the basis of the blog, by reporters and producers who aren’t even aware of Catholic Answers.
Not a lot has come of that yet, but I’ll let you know when it does. What’s interesting to me is that I’m even getting such queries. It shows how bloggers have crafted an identity for themselves and forced the MSM to respect it in a way that goes beyond being "some guy with a web page." If you’re some guy with a web page, you don’t get press inquiries in the same way, but if you’re "a blogger" then the MSM knows and respects (or fears) what you are enough that they take you more seriously. MSM reporters have learned (by the school of hard knocks) what a blogger is and what bloggers are capable of doing–and they (or some of them) have decided to start turning to bloggers for commentary and, in some cases, the facts they need to put together a story.
Something similar to that just happened in the Catholic press (not the American MSM, but significant nonetheless) with JimmyAkin.Org.
Y’all may recall the dustup that we had a bit ago with Mr. Giuseppe Gennarini of the Neocatechumenal Way. After I put up a blog post noting that he had severely misrepresented what was said in a letter from Cardinal Francis Arinze, he wrote a reply that he asked me to publish on the blog. I did (along with an accompanying critique of his reply).
Apparently all this got back to Italian journalist and vaticanista Sandro Magister, who just quoted from JimmyAkin.Org in his latest column.
Specifically: He quoted part of Gennarini’s reply in the documentation section at the bottom of his article.
AND IN ITALIAN.
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed.)
It’s kinda cool seeing material from JimmyAkin.Org (a) being used as a source to document a news story by a well-known vaticanista and (b) seeing it done in Italian! (and [c] in a column that is read by folks in the Vatican!)
Incidentally, I’d like to chime in with Magister about one thing in particular that he says in the piece (though this is on a subject other than the Neocatechumenal Way):
During the first months of [B16’s] pontificate, the pope essentially concentrated upon the liturgical celebrations and upon the bare word: homilies, Angelus messages, catecheses, speeches, and now his encyclical. But in order for these words to be spread all over the world, they at least need to be translated and diffused in the main languages.
Well then, a speech of primary importance like the one Benedict XVI addressed to the Roman curia on December 22, two-thirds of which was dedicated to the interpretation of Vatican Council II and the relationship between the Church and the modern world, was for eight days available on the Vatican website only in its Italian version. It was then accompanied by the French, then a few days later by the Spanish, then the English, then by the German version. So, almost a month after the event, the last of the six versions into which papal documents are normally translated – the Portuguese version – is still missing (8). And the same thing has happened in the case of almost all the other texts.
And yet the Vatican is the most polyglot state in the world, brimming over with translators, and it has an overabundance of organs dedicated to social communications. They were useless, at least in this matter. Even more than that – they were harmful.
I AGREE! (And any Vatican folks who are browsing this blog in the wake of Magister’s mention, please take note!)
I don’t know if the recent slowness of translation is due to deliberate malfeasance–as Magister speculates–but I have noted that the Vatican web site has been EXTRAORDINARILY INEFFICIENT of late when it comes to translating and posting important documents.
I’ve been quite irked by the fact, and there seems to have been a marked degeneration in this respect since the end of JP2’s pontificate. I don’t know what the causes are, but this really is unacceptable, and I hope steps are taken to get things translated and posted in the timely manner that is needed to run a Church with a billion people in the Information Age.
Incidentally, I’m gratified that Magister would take note of and comment on the problem. As an Italian, it would have been easy for him to simply rejoice in having the Italian originals posted and to not have noticed that those of us in other language communities are being harmed by the tardiness of the translators and web-posters.
The fact that he’s noticed it as an Italian-speaker points to the seriousness of the problem.
I’ve noticed this for a looooong time. On the bright side, I’ve picked up a tad bit of Italian and Babelfish has gotten a lot more business from me. But really, I shouldn’t have to use Babelfish and guesswork for something the Vatican is already geared to provide.
Time to get some new translators and website admins?
Jimmy should take over management of the Vactican web site.
Jimmy,
Very cool that your response was quoted. Now if only the NW would read the text of the letter and the norms.
This quote from Pope Benedict XVI makes it very clear that the NW needs bring their “liturgy” in line with the norms.
“Recently the congregation for divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments imparted to you, in my name, some norms concerning the Eucharistic celebration, after the trial period that had been granted by the servant of God John Paul II. I am certain that these norms, which draw upon the provisions of the liturgical books approved by the Church, will meet with attentive compliance from you.”
I hope they have the whole address in english soon.
Take care and God bless.
J+M+J
One problem with a delay in the official translation of a document is that it allows agenda-driven groups more time in which to spin the meaning of the document before it is even available for people to read for themselves.
They should hold out on releasing the document until all the translations are prepared (or nearly).
Have the older polyglots started retiring or dying off, adding to the delay?
I was reading up on the NW and don’t know what to make of the quotes attributed to Paul VI and JPII on their approval of the NW. I’m referring to a citation in the Catholic Encyclopedia. Aren’t some of their doctrinal positions contrary to traditional Catholic teaching, like confession, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the meaning of the Mass, etc.? Any explanation would be helpful. Grazi (sp?)
I recall reading somewhere that the delay in the publication of HH’s upcoming encyclical was a result of disagreements about the translation(s). This might lead one to go further than Tim J. above, and speculate that agenda-driven groups do not just seize the opportunity, but are the cause of the delays. That is to say, the deliberate malfeasance which Jimmy (following Sandro Magister) suggests is a direct result of translators who are trying to suborn the meaning of the documents. I realize that this sounds very conspiracy-theory, and it is just speculation, but it is not totally incredible. Just look at the agendas & delays which are in play in the revision of the English translation of the Mass. The way to tell for sure would be to do a rigorous side-by-side reading of original & translation, to see if/where they differ. But I don’t have the time for that.
the deliberate malfeasance which Jimmy (following Sandro Magister) suggests
What did I just say?
I seem to recall it being something like this: “I *don’t know* if the recent slowness of translation is due to deliberate malfeasance–as Magister *speculates*”
The theory I find most likely is that Benedict is taking some time and running into snags, trying to re-locate some people, and that he’s aware of the need for accurate translations. If that’s right, I agree with Tim that the best thing to do is to hold off on releasing any translations until all of them are finished.
I for one am very frustrated with the slowness of the release of English translations for the Pope’s homilies and his catecheses during the Wednesday audiences. As I am printing the texts for these homilies and meditations as my own personal record of the Holy Father’s teachings, you can imagine my frustration when it took at least one month (!) for the English translations of the last three Audiences for December to appear on the Vatican website!
Considering that some things can also be lost (inadvertently or not!) in translation, I decided the best thing to do was learn Italian. I get to learn a language that’s always fascinated me and more importantly, understand Il Papa when he speaks at the Audiences and celebrates the Holy Mass. No more waiting for these translators! If it is true (although I sincerely hope it isn’t!) that there is an effort to “slow down” the dissemination of the Pope’s teachings through “deliberate” delays in translation, well then, these folks aren’t going to get one over me!