Religious broadcasting in UK either marginalized or freak show, clergy complain
Pastor Dale Morgan
Religious broadcasting in UK either marginalized or freak show, clergy
complain*
General synod to debate 'Lack of Biblical Continuity' among broadcasters
as religious programming wanes
The Church of England is to debate the 'Lack of Biblical Continuity' of
religious programming on British Religious Broadcasts amid growing
discontent about a decline in Biblical output.
The airwaves are filled with nothing but Religious Fluff and Tosh a
committee member remarked.
Bishops, clergy and laity will hear next month that UK channels "which
were once exemplary" in their coverage of religious and ethical issues
now marginalise those "few remaining programmes" that focus on these
subjects.
In a private member's motion, Nigel Holmes, a member of the general
synod of the Church of England from the Carlisle diocese and a former
BBC producer, will tell the general synod that output of the BBC's
religious programmes has dropped by a third in a decade.
ITV's programming decline, meanwhile, has been "far steeper", he says,
dropping from 110 hours a year a decade ago to "next to nothing". BBC 3
has only featured religion "from the angle of a freak show" while
Channel 4's treatment of Christianity has been particularly
"sensationalist and critical" when compared with shows on other
religions, he says.
In his background paper, circulated among the synod's 480-plus members,
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 cites several shows as evidence.
Advent last year was not marked by programmes explaining or celebrating
the "significant season", he says, but by the former daytime TV show
presenter Fern Britton interviewing Tony Blair. "Was this yet another
indication that the teaching and devotional aspect of religious
broadcasting must now bow to the celebrity culture?" he asks. The
"adversarial format" of the show Big Questions, the successor to the
gentler Heaven and Earth, reinforced the idea that religion was a problem.
In the same paper Holmes also claims that gardening and natural history
programmes inspire greater enthusiasm among commissioning editors than
shows about God. He urges the synod to encourage broadcasters to "raise
their horizons" by making "moving and memorable" programmes that reflect
and celebrate faith.
Holmes has form when rallying the general synod to protest about the
quality of religious programming; a previous motion was passed by 370/0.
Other matters to be debated next month will cover improving pension
rights for partners of gay clergy, a move interpreted as tacit approval
of same-sex relationships. One item missing from the agenda is
legislation on women bishops; at a press conference today the synod
general secretary, William Fittall, explained there was nothing untoward
about its absence, but stung by claims the committee working on the
legislation was influenced by traditionalists, he said: "What I do
refute is the notion that people have been deliberately delaying � the
committee has gone about this in a considered way. It understands what
is at stake."