- 17 March, 2026
Vatican City, March 17, 2026: Pope Leo XIV met with Italian journalists from the TG2 news broadcast and cautioned against the media becoming a “megaphone” for power, particularly during times of conflict.
During periods of war, the media must present conflicts from the human perspective of those who are suffering and avoid acting as a “megaphone” for power, Pope Leo XIV said on Monday.
“Always, but especially in the dramatic circumstances of war such as those we are experiencing, information must guard against the risk of turning into propaganda,” he said while addressing journalists from the TG2 news program of the Italian state-owned television channel Rai 2.
Amid such conflicts, “the task of journalists, in verifying the news so as not to become a megaphone for power, becomes even more urgent and delicate—and indeed, essential,” he added.
The Pope stressed that it is the responsibility of the media “to show the suffering that war always brings to populations, to show the face of war, and to tell it through the eyes of the victims so that it does not turn into a video game.”
He acknowledged that “it is not easy within the few minutes of a news broadcast and its analysis segments,” but emphasized that “this is the challenge.”
The Pope met the TG2 newsroom at the Vatican on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1976.
Technology cannot replace critical discernment
Reflecting on the anniversary, the Pope underlined the need to maintain a human perspective in media amid rapid technological advancements.
He noted the many transformations in television journalism over the decades, including “the transition from analog to digital.”
In this context, he emphasized “that no technological innovation can replace creativity, critical discernment, and freedom of thought.”
“Since the challenge of our time is that of artificial intelligence, I think of the need to regulate communication according to the human paradigm and not the technological one,” he said, adding that this “means, ultimately, knowing how to distinguish between the means and the ends.”
Openness in an era of polarization
Continuing this reflection, the Pope highlighted the importance of openness in media and the need to avoid reinforcing only one’s own viewpoints.
He commended TG2 journalists for their “secularism and the pluralism of news sources,” even within state television. He described secularism as “a rejection of ideological preconceptions and as an open-minded view of reality.”
“We all know how difficult it is to let ourselves be surprised by facts, encounters, the perspectives, and the voices of others; how strong the temptation is to seek out, see, and listen only to what confirms our own opinions,” he said.
“But there can be no good communication, nor true freedom and healthy pluralism, without this openness.”
The Pope noted that “throughout the history of TG2, diverse cultural perspectives have coexisted,” and that this diversity, “especially when animated by a spirit of friendship, has been an added value” to the identity of the news broadcast.
He added that it has been “a source of richness, and an example of dialogue that still has much to teach us today—in an era dominated by polarization, ideological closed-mindedness, and slogans that prevent us from seeing and understanding the complexity of reality.”
Courtesy: Vatican News
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