Pope calls for "info-ethics" in journalism

Vatican weighs in on phone hacking scandal


The mushrooming press-political-police voice mail hacking scandal which is threatening to dismantle communications baron Rupert Murdoch's grip on British newspapers and broadcasting has led to calls from the Vatican for journalistic integrity.

Father Jose Maria Gil Tamayo 

The media, said Spanish media specialist Father Jose Maria Gil Tamayo, writing in L'Osservatore Romano, needs to introduce "a real code of ethics that respects the authentic natural and inviolable dignity of the human person."

Pope Benedict, said Father Tamayo, considers it "essential" that social communications "assiduously defend the person and fully respect human dignity."