With 17 cardinals and the former Pope on Twitter, a "Pope App" featuring papal speeches and a live webcam of St. Peter's Square, the Vatican is leaning toward modernity.

But as a testament to the Vatican's battle with age-old tradition and the digital age, the Sistine Chapel installed a jamming device that will halt all electronic signals to prevent leaks during the papal conclave.

Though there are an estimated 5,000 journalists in Rome, the Italian media mainly run the show, making the selection process less than transparent.

Journalists covering this beat have to be on high alert for fake details. "They're being given this information for a reason," said Jason Horowitz, who's covering the conclave for The Washington Post, in this Capital piece. "It's not because these sources just want to get something off their chest. They're playing, as always, politics through the Italian press, only now it's really high stakes because the papal election is happening."

When only a few insiders know the true story, reports on the conclave become shrouded in speculation, leading to inaccuracy and misinformation. Should the Vatican embrace the transparency that the digital age provides?

Image CC-licensed on Flickr via shuttermanic.