A great post at The Washington Post's On Faith blog by a senior fellow at Georgetown University, one of the leading Jesuit colleges in the nation, takes a fair view of how the media has been covering the church sex scandal, both in the recent past and in recent months.

Thomas J. Reese, S.J., gives the media its due and points out how the church could better handle this crisis with some clear, open responses.

“The church has rarely been helpful in covering the sex abuse story, and without the media coverage, the church would not have cleaned up its act,” Reese declares. “The church owes a debt of gratitude to the media, especially the National Catholic Reporter, which was on this story from the mid-1980's, long before the Boston Globe.

“In addition, attacking the media is a stupid PR strategy that does not work; in fact it is counterproductive. It makes the church look defensive and makes it look like the church is trying to play down the problem of abuse. Calling the news coverage petty gossip or comparable to anti-Semitism is disastrous; it is pouring gasoline on the fire.”

Here, here. But will the church listen? They'd better or brace for worse coverage as more scandal comes out.