[First published in AM New York]
THE WORLD’S MOST VISIBLE RELIGIOUS LEADER EVER will disappear tomorrow from human view, deep below St Peter’s Basilica – with, of course, the media following as far as they can.
Among all the TV reviews of John Paul II’s charismatic papacy, one piece of video has not figured highly. It’s footage I pored over while covering his earliest U.S. visit in 1979.
Quite a scene is captured. A Sisters of Mercy nun from the Bronx, Sister Theresa Kane, is delivering a very unwelcome official welcome. John Paul is visibly annoyed. Then among his audience, the camera catches – astonishingly – a group of nuns wearing blue armbands to express support for Sister Theresa, who suddenly stands up in silent protest too.
That brave but small rebellion outraged conservative churchmen at the time. Sister Theresa was asking the Holy Father to consider “the possibility of women as persons being included in all ministries of our Church.” The Pope blessed Sister Theresa, but unsmilingly (pictured, above left). He ignored her message pointedly, calling on all nuns to remain loyal to traditional service.
In subsequent years, the Sister’s efforts to meet with him failed. The Vatican media machine made it clear that she had overstepped her limits. The Pope, however, didn’t forget her. A couple of decades later, another Mercy sister who was granted an audience with him was told: “Give my regards to Sister Kane.”
REGARDING MICHAEL JACKSON‘s trial, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was “interviewed” by CNN’s latest ratings-seeking missile, Nancy Grace. (And by the way, could the hiring of this fair-haired former prosecutor reflect in any way the puerile ethos abroad in cable hews – as revealed by Fox News chief Roger Ailes‘ remark about another cable rival, MSNBC: “They hired every blonde that doesn’t work for us”? )
Rev. Jackson’s support for his near-namesake may well be questionable. But Ms. Grace didn’t question – she simply ridiculed the cleric-politician and ultimately laid her head on the desk, miming that she couldn’t listen any more.
What next in cable news grandstanding? Actual chewing of the scenery?
Ailes and his blondes aside, put ‘women’ and ‘cable’ in the same sentence, and Lifetime Television will probably be there, too. This channel scores fourth in the ratings among cable networks. But its good old reliability may be in for a big change soon.
Betty Cohen, who becomes Lifetime’s new CEO later this month, is co founder of the Cartoon Network, home to regular kids’ fare but also to edgy, innovative material like “Adult Swim”. For Lifetime, Cohen promises: “There are things we want to do to take things to the next level.”
A bit more edginess might be welcome. I hadn’t realized quite how much Lifetime’s trusted formula has been scorned in the biz (though feared, as well). Not, that is, until I heard Oxygen Channel executives, women who can evidently be misogynist themselves, dismiss their bigger rival as “Wifetime Television.”
Send comments and tips to MEDIABEAT@am-ny.com
