The General Synod of the Church of England is preparing to debate the ‘lack of sympathy’ and sensationalist and unduly critical nature of religious programming on British television amid growing discontent about a decline in output.
Bishops, clergy and lay members of the Synod will vote on whether to demand that the State Broadcaster explains why its coverage of Christianity on television has declined so steeply in recent years.
In a Private Member’s Motion, Nigel Holmes, a member of the Synod from the Carlisle diocese and a former BBC producer, explains that output of the BBC’s religious programmes has dropped by a third in a decade.
In his background paper, circulated among more than 480 members of the Synod, Mr Holmes says those who work in religious broadcasting believe that a ‘lack of sympathy for, and ignorance of, religion leads to poor decisions in the corridors of power’. He also cites evidence for his arguments.
The reported statistics show that output has fallen from 177 hours of religious programming on BBC television in 1987-88 to 155 hours in 2007-08, while the number of general programmes has doubled.
Mr Holmes has also pointed out that the BBC’s main religious show last Christmas was presented by Fern Britton, the former daytime TV presenter.
‘Was this yet another indication that the teaching and devotional aspect of religious broadcasting must now bow to the celebrity culture?’ he asked.
He adds that the BBC 3 tackles the subject ‘from the angle of the freak show’ and Channel 4 takes an ‘unduly critical’ and ‘sensationalist’ attitude towards Christianity while ITV shows ‘next to nothing’ about faith.
Other debates at the Synod will raise the question of whether to introduce women bishops and whether the Church has relaxed its historic opposition on the practice of homosexuality, by allowing surviving civil partners to claim the pensions of deceased clergy on the same basis as widowed spouses.
William Fittall, Secretary General to the General Synod, said that Members of the Committee have to deal with ‘extraordinarily difficult’ and complicated issues.
At the beginning of this month, Simon Mayo, a BBC radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981, said that the corporation is driving religion to the margins whilst standing ‘at the forefront of the new atheism’.
(See the CCFON report)
About the same time, Prime Minister Gordon Brown endorsed the work of Christians in politics ahead of the general election and spoke of his admiration and respect for Churches and Christian charities. He said he does not agree with the view that religion can be left at the door when Christians enter a town hall or the Commons Chamber.
(See the CCFON report)
On 9 August 2009, Mr Brown said in his interview with Premier Radio that ‘the role of religion and faith, in what people sometimes call the ‘public square’ is incredibly important’ and that ‘the values that underpin what most of us try to do, these are derived from our religious faiths’.
(See the CCFON report)
In February 2009, a BBC poll of 1,045 people questioned by ComRes, a member of the British Polling Council whose opinion polls are regularly published or broadcast in media in the United Kingdom, suggested that 62 per cent of people were in favour of religion and the values derived from it to play an important role in British public life.
(See the CCFON report)