Saturday, December 03
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM

The Ethics of Access: Getting Organizations to Open Up
Salon Dei Cavalieri, Section 1

The Catholic Church (and the various entities within it) are some of a number of institutions worldwide that have long been cautious in their dealings with the media. Who can blame them? For example, Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code (soon to be made into a major motion picture), accuses Opus Dei, an organization of 85,000 Catholics, of conspiracy, blackmail and murder to protect the 2,000 year-old secrets of the Church. Needless to say, Opus Dei has been upset by the accusations made by a work of fiction that has become such a pop culture success.
Producers push for access, and historically have met resistance from Church groups and other organizations that feel maligned and misunderstood. This reluctance to talk and the resultant aura of secrecy often fuels the controversy. However, in recent years many previously silent institutions have become media-savvy and allowed access, to varying degrees, to television producers to make programs about them.
Here in Rome in the shadows of the Vatican this panel will examine: What an institution such as the Catholic Church expects for this access and what producers promise in return. Does access compromise integrity? What are the lines that cannot be crossed? How does the granted access affect the final program and the historical facts being examined?

Producer:
     Kenneth Mandel, Executive Producer
     Great Projects Film Company, Inc. USA

Moderator:
     Edwin Stepp, Director of Development
     Vision Media Productions USA

Participants:
     John Allen, Vatican correspondent
     National Catholic Reporter Italy
     Kenneth Mandel, Executive Producer
     Great Projects Film Company, Inc. USA
     John Wauck, Professor / Priest
     School of Church Communications Italy