Ernie Rea, the BBC’s ex-Head of Religious Broadcasting casts a critical eye over religious coverage
In a week when the 2021 census revealed a 5.5 million fall in the number of people who described themselves as Christian and that 22.2 million people declared they had “no religion” at all, the BBC’s ex-Head of Religious Broadcasting, Ernie Rea, casts a critical eye over the BBC’s coverage of religion and ethics.
“When you think that about 82% of the population of the world cling to a faith tradition, and what an important part that faith tradition plays in the politics, the culture, the society all over the world - it’s absolutely plain the BBC should be covering it, should be exploring it, should be criticising it…It should be part of the of the asking questions to power, but it's not doing it.”
Ernie and Roger discusses whether broadcasters underestimate the interest of ordinary people in matters of faith, belief and spirituality, the divide between radio and television coverage, the commissioning strategy and whether OFCOM should be considering relaxing quotas for religious programming.
Stephen Fry, the renowned atheist, also addresses the question of how well broadcasters cover ethics and religion.
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