How not to report about the Pope

From the AP, as published in the New York Times:

Pope Keeps Spanish Steps Tradition in Rome

ROME (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday lamented what he described as a steady diet of news about evil in the world, saying it hardens hearts, as he prayed at the Spanish Steps in a Christmas season tradition. [Ok, so one would expect, from the headline and this lead, that we're going to learn about what this tradition means.]

Shoppers who jammed the narrow streets, including Via Condotti with its posh shops, paused from buying Christmas gifts to catch a glimpse of Benedict as he was driven in a glass-sided popemobile to the square below the Spanish Steps. [What are the Spanish Steps and why are they a Christmas season tradition?]

''Every day, through the newspapers, television, radio, evil is reported, repeated, amplified, making us used to horrible things, making us become insensitive, and, in some way, poisoning us,'' the pope said after kneeling in prayer before a statue of the Virgin Mary to mark the Dec. 8 Catholic feast day in her honor. [Which is...? Surely what feast day is pertinent information.]

''Hearts harden and thoughts darken,'' Benedict said.

He also complained that the mass media ''tend to make us feel like spectators, as if evil regards only others and certain things could never happen to us.''

Instead, Benedict said, ''we are all actors, and for better or worse, our behavior has an influence on others.''

An aide held a white umbrella over the 82-year-old pontiff in a drizzle at dusk. Benedict wore an ermine-trimmed, crimson cape to guard against the chill. [Ok, so let me get the straight: what the Pope wore is more of a story than what he was doing and why?]

Benedict's next major public holiday appointment is Christmas Eve Mass, which he will celebrate at 10 p.m. instead of the traditional starting hour of midnight in St. Peter's Basilica.

The announcement by the Vatican that the pope had agreed with his aides to move up the appointment by two hours raised some concern about the pontiff's health.

But Vatican officials have insisted his health is fine, and that Benedict had agreed with aides to have more time to rest before a noon appearance to crowds in St. Peter's Square on Christmas Day.

Although Benedict at the start of his papacy ventured that he would travel far less than his globe-trotting predecessor, John Paul II, did in his 26-year-long pontificate, the German-born theologian has been making several international and domestic trips each year.

On Tuesday, church officials announced that Benedict would make several Italian pilgrimages in 2010, including a visit in October to Sicily, where the local church has been speaking out against organized crime. Other trips include a visit in May to Turin to see the famed Shroud and a journey in July to the central town of Sulmona, the spiritual home of the 13th-century hermit pope, Celestine V, the only pontiff to have resigned. [I wonder how many journalists hope Pope Benedict also resigns. ;-) ]

At least two foreign trips have been announced for next year: separate pilgrimages to the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Cyprus. Britain and Fatima, Portugal, are possibilities for other trips.

So, the reporter failed to include:

1. What the Spanish Steps are
2. Why the Spanish Steps are a Christmas tradition and
3. What feast day is December 8th (the Immaculate Conception, just FYI, AP).

But he/she did remember to include a description of the pope's hat. Gee, thanks.

Either the writer is a frustrated fashionista, stuck reporting real news when he/she would rather be covering the catwalk or some editor seriously forgot everything she learned in journalism school when she approved this for publication.

Regardless, this is a case of serious religion reporter FAIL.