Post by Teddy Bear on Dec 4, 2011 17:22:36 GMT
Christians a minority at 'biased' BBC where staff are more likely to be atheists or non-believers
By Jonathan Petre
The BBC employs more atheists and non-believers than Christians, an internal ‘diversity’ survey has found.
The new research has been seized on by critics who accuse the Corporation of bias against Christianity and marginalising the faith in its output.
The survey found that just 22.5 per cent of all staff professed to be Christians.
Yet the combination of those who said they were atheists and those who had no faith came to a total of 23.5 per cent.
Some 40 per cent of staff failed to respond to the questionnaire. Other beliefs represented in the workforce included Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.
BBC veteran Roger Bolton, who until recently presented BBC Radio 4’s religious current affairs programme, Sunday, said: ‘There is an inbuilt but unconscious bias against religion, fuelled by the fact staff are not representative of the public. It is not a conspiracy but it needs a correction.’
And Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, said the statistics confirmed the belief that the BBC is ‘institutionally incapable of reflecting the society it serves since BBC staff are not representative of the audience they broadcast to’.
The independent Christian Broadcasting Council also told the media watchdog Ofcom in a report earlier this month it was ‘concerned’ that Christians were not fairly represented. The criticisms follow complaints the BBC has cut back its religious broadcasting.
Viewers have also claimed the BBC portrays Christians in soap operas or dramas as ‘weak’ or ‘bigoted’.
The beliefs of BBC staff have been disclosed for the first time after the Corporation carried out a costly audit earlier this year to comply with the 2010 Equality Act.
The census by pollsters Ipsos MORI, was voluntary.
But the BBC said the figures provided ‘a good indication of our employees’ comparative religious identity profile, although it does not represent the entire staff of the BBC’.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘Nearly 60 per cent of BBC staff have been asked about their religion or belief and, of those, Christianity was by far the largest faith.
‘That said, when it comes to recruitment the BBC hires staff based on skills and experience alone.
‘As the majority faith of the UK, Christian programming is the cornerstone of our religious output.’
By Jonathan Petre
The BBC employs more atheists and non-believers than Christians, an internal ‘diversity’ survey has found.
The new research has been seized on by critics who accuse the Corporation of bias against Christianity and marginalising the faith in its output.
The survey found that just 22.5 per cent of all staff professed to be Christians.
Yet the combination of those who said they were atheists and those who had no faith came to a total of 23.5 per cent.
Some 40 per cent of staff failed to respond to the questionnaire. Other beliefs represented in the workforce included Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.
BBC veteran Roger Bolton, who until recently presented BBC Radio 4’s religious current affairs programme, Sunday, said: ‘There is an inbuilt but unconscious bias against religion, fuelled by the fact staff are not representative of the public. It is not a conspiracy but it needs a correction.’
And Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, said the statistics confirmed the belief that the BBC is ‘institutionally incapable of reflecting the society it serves since BBC staff are not representative of the audience they broadcast to’.
The independent Christian Broadcasting Council also told the media watchdog Ofcom in a report earlier this month it was ‘concerned’ that Christians were not fairly represented. The criticisms follow complaints the BBC has cut back its religious broadcasting.
Viewers have also claimed the BBC portrays Christians in soap operas or dramas as ‘weak’ or ‘bigoted’.
The beliefs of BBC staff have been disclosed for the first time after the Corporation carried out a costly audit earlier this year to comply with the 2010 Equality Act.
The census by pollsters Ipsos MORI, was voluntary.
But the BBC said the figures provided ‘a good indication of our employees’ comparative religious identity profile, although it does not represent the entire staff of the BBC’.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘Nearly 60 per cent of BBC staff have been asked about their religion or belief and, of those, Christianity was by far the largest faith.
‘That said, when it comes to recruitment the BBC hires staff based on skills and experience alone.
‘As the majority faith of the UK, Christian programming is the cornerstone of our religious output.’
