from Religion Media Centre
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has voiced concern about the place of religion across the BBC’s entire output, noting “with sadness and some distress, the sometimes appalling lack of religious literacy in so much of the BBC”.
Speaking at a Religion Media Centre briefing on the green paper for the BBC Charter Review, he described religious and public service broadcasting as a “precious bulwark against polarisation”, but he questioned whether there was sufficient ambition within the BBC and government to sustain it in a changing media landscape, warning faith risked becoming the “poor and underfunded relative”.
His concern was not with the religion department in Salford, but the wider BBC.
Broadcaster Roger Bolton told the briefing that original content on religion and ethics at peak-time on all public service broadcasting platforms had fallen by 85 per cent between 2011 and 2022. He called for strategic thinking on public service broadcasting and said faith leaders should withold support from the BBC until it puts forward its policies on the role of religion.
Afterwards, The Telegraph quoted a BBC statement saying the Corporation delivers an “unrivalled range” of religion and ethics content.
Independent story here, Telegraph story here, View the briefing again or listen to the podcast via links here.