Post by Teddy Bear on Mar 28, 2009 22:34:13 GMT
It crosses my mind (no pun intended) that perhaps somebody or ..bodies are getting paid lots of money by vested individuals to promote Islam over Christianity on the BBC. Otherwise why should a corporation that's supported within a Christian country by a majority Christian populace treat Chrisitanity in this way?
Archbishop confronts BBC Director General over its treatment of religion
The Archbishop of Canterbury has complained to the Director General of the BBC about the decline of religious programming at the Corporation.
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:24PM GMT 28 Mar 2009
Dr Rowan Williams warned Mark Thompson at a meeting at Lambeth Palace that the broadcaster must not ignore its Christian audience.
His intervention comes amid mounting concern among senior members of the Church of England that the BBC is downgrading its religious output and giving preferential treatment to minority faiths.
The corporation recently sacked its head of religious programmes, Michael Wakelin, a Methodist preacher.
The emergence of a Muslim as the front-runner to succeed Mr Wakelin, along with the recent appointment of a Sikh to produce Songs of Praise, has raised fears within the Church that the Christian voice is being sidelined.
Mr Thompson caused controversy last year when he suggested that Islam should be treated more sensitively by the media than Christianity because Muslims are a minority religion.
As a public service broadcaster, the BBC has a duty to provide religious programmes.
But Dr Williams challenged the director general during their meeting earlier this month over the decline in religious broadcasting on the BBC World Service.
The World Service has reduced its English-language religious coverage from one hour 45 minutes a week in 2001 to a mere half an hour in 2009. The archbishop said that this had been a significant loss.
In a gathering of the Archbishops' Council, the Church's executive body, last week, Dr Williams agreed with suggestions that the future of religious broadcasting is under threat.
Christina Rees, a member of the Archbishops' Council, said: "The vast majority of the population identifies itself as Christian and as the established Church in England we would be negligent not to take an active concern in the changes happening with the BBC's religion and ethics department."
The Rt Rev Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich, will hold a meeting next month with senior BBC and Church figures to discuss the corporation's attitude to faith issues.
The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, the Bishop of Manchester, has already written to Mr Thompson to express his disquiet at the developments.
During the past year, four out of seven executives in the BBC's religion department have been made redundant, with Mr Wakelin the latest casualty.
The favourite to succeed him is Aaqil Ahmed, a Muslim who – as commissioning editor for religion at Channel 4 – has been accused of treating faiths differently in the programmes he has commissioned.
Catholic priests last year accused Channel 4 of being biased in favour of Islam and claimed that Christianity was treated with less respect.
Church leaders have privately expressed concern at the prospect of the appointment of a Muslim to head the BBC's religious coverage in addition to a Sikh producing Songs of Praise.
According to the Churches' Media Council, an umbrella organisation for different denominations, Christians are now significantly under-represented at the Corporation. It has expressed concern that no senior member of the department has an academic qualification in religion.
The Rev Dr Joel Edwards, chair of the council, said: "There's no doubt that the BBC's specific expertise in religion has been diminished over the past few years as the TV side of the department has shrunk."
He urged the BBC to "rebuild its authority and secure the confidence of the faith communities by appointing staff and commissioning programmes that reflect the vibrancy of Christianity and the other UK faiths".
A BBC spokeswoman argued that changes that have been made to the department were intended to strengthen the BBC's offering.
"The BBC's commitment to Religion and Ethics is unequivocal and entirely safe," she said, adding that the BBC had stressed this to bishops who had expressed concerns.
A Lambeth Palace spokeswoman said that they could not comment on a private meeting.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has complained to the Director General of the BBC about the decline of religious programming at the Corporation.
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:24PM GMT 28 Mar 2009
Dr Rowan Williams warned Mark Thompson at a meeting at Lambeth Palace that the broadcaster must not ignore its Christian audience.
His intervention comes amid mounting concern among senior members of the Church of England that the BBC is downgrading its religious output and giving preferential treatment to minority faiths.
The corporation recently sacked its head of religious programmes, Michael Wakelin, a Methodist preacher.
The emergence of a Muslim as the front-runner to succeed Mr Wakelin, along with the recent appointment of a Sikh to produce Songs of Praise, has raised fears within the Church that the Christian voice is being sidelined.
Mr Thompson caused controversy last year when he suggested that Islam should be treated more sensitively by the media than Christianity because Muslims are a minority religion.
As a public service broadcaster, the BBC has a duty to provide religious programmes.
But Dr Williams challenged the director general during their meeting earlier this month over the decline in religious broadcasting on the BBC World Service.
The World Service has reduced its English-language religious coverage from one hour 45 minutes a week in 2001 to a mere half an hour in 2009. The archbishop said that this had been a significant loss.
In a gathering of the Archbishops' Council, the Church's executive body, last week, Dr Williams agreed with suggestions that the future of religious broadcasting is under threat.
Christina Rees, a member of the Archbishops' Council, said: "The vast majority of the population identifies itself as Christian and as the established Church in England we would be negligent not to take an active concern in the changes happening with the BBC's religion and ethics department."
The Rt Rev Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich, will hold a meeting next month with senior BBC and Church figures to discuss the corporation's attitude to faith issues.
The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, the Bishop of Manchester, has already written to Mr Thompson to express his disquiet at the developments.
During the past year, four out of seven executives in the BBC's religion department have been made redundant, with Mr Wakelin the latest casualty.
The favourite to succeed him is Aaqil Ahmed, a Muslim who – as commissioning editor for religion at Channel 4 – has been accused of treating faiths differently in the programmes he has commissioned.
Catholic priests last year accused Channel 4 of being biased in favour of Islam and claimed that Christianity was treated with less respect.
Church leaders have privately expressed concern at the prospect of the appointment of a Muslim to head the BBC's religious coverage in addition to a Sikh producing Songs of Praise.
According to the Churches' Media Council, an umbrella organisation for different denominations, Christians are now significantly under-represented at the Corporation. It has expressed concern that no senior member of the department has an academic qualification in religion.
The Rev Dr Joel Edwards, chair of the council, said: "There's no doubt that the BBC's specific expertise in religion has been diminished over the past few years as the TV side of the department has shrunk."
He urged the BBC to "rebuild its authority and secure the confidence of the faith communities by appointing staff and commissioning programmes that reflect the vibrancy of Christianity and the other UK faiths".
A BBC spokeswoman argued that changes that have been made to the department were intended to strengthen the BBC's offering.
"The BBC's commitment to Religion and Ethics is unequivocal and entirely safe," she said, adding that the BBC had stressed this to bishops who had expressed concerns.
A Lambeth Palace spokeswoman said that they could not comment on a private meeting.