Back     The man, the motive, the media By Phil Lawler | April 22, 2010 5:43 PM Jeffrey Anderson is suing the Pope. It's an outlandish case-- not only because the facts don't support Anderson's claim that the Pope protected abusive priests, but also because the Roman Pontiff, as a sovereign head of state, is immune from lawsuits. Still, this isn't the first time that a far-fetched lawsuit has been filed by a lawyer with a penchant for publicity. What's unusual about this case, however, is that the lawsuit was filed only after the climate had been prepared, with a series of media attacks on the Pope. And those attacks began in earnest with a questionable New York Times story, for which the most important source was the same Jeffrey Anderson. In other words, Anderson skilfully used the media to rouse negative publicity about the Pope, then capitalized by filing a lawsuit-- which, sure enough, garnered still more publicity. What's truly fascinating is that in the several media accounts of the lawsuit that I read today, not one mentioned that Anderson the plaintiff's lawyer is also Anderson the media source. No reporter or editor evidently felt that it was relevant to let the public know that there is an obvious connection between the headlines and the lawsuit. The media continue playing along with the lawyer's game. With acknowledgment to: Catholic Culture.org (April 23rd, 2010). The original website including links can be viewed using the url below. http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=635 Copyright © Catholic Culture 2010 Version: 17th June 2010  Back