FUMBLE: POPE NEEDS A GOOD SPIN DOCTOR

So, am I playing with fire and/or brimstone for calling a Fumble on the Pope? I suppose I’ll find out … eventually. But here and now, I submit it’s a worthy call, not just for this week’s firestorm over his Holiness’ comments about condoms and AIDS in Africa, but for what seems to be an emerging bigger picture of systemic communications problems, if the article in the London Daily Telegraph headlined “Vatican insiders declare the Pope ‘a disaster’”) is any indication. Let’s set aside the church and the Pontiff, and look at this as any sizeable operation with a communications problem. It’s a global organization headed by a prominent figure whose every word is subject to tremendous media scrutiny. The boss is reportedly the type who doesn’t take advice well and, the record will show, has generated some negative publicity on several occasions for things he has said. Further, his official media office closes at mid-afternoon, and has little if any active involvement on the internet and in other quick-response arenas. "I think there's a good story to be told about this pope but it just doesn't get out because of the colossal ineptitude of the Vatican in terms of communications," said John Allen, a veteran Vatican analyst with National Catholic Reporter. And Francis X. Rocca, Vatican correspondent for Religion News Service, told the Telegraph "The problem now is that the internet and the blogosphere won't wait for the Vatican, so its message gets swamped." All of this speaks clearly to the major communications problems facing Pope Benedict & company. Like any organization with important messages to deliver to a wide variety of audiences and stakeholders, the Vatican seems in need an overhaul in its media and communications operations – and starting by bringing in some younger, fresher faces who clearly grasp the realities of communication in the 21st century would be an excellent place to start.