Media and the Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life

The Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life poses a number of questions, some of which have been responded to in blogs on the Public Spirit site.

One question is notably overlooked in these responses, however, which is:

Do the media accurately and helpfully portray issues of religion and belief, and communities and groups identified by religion or belief?

In some respects, this is a slightly odd perhaps even unsophisticated question. For instance, though everyone would be in agreement that ‘accuracy’ of portrayal should be an active norm dictating how religions and beliefs are represented, aren’t all representations ultimately interpretations? That sounds like an overly philosophical point, and perhaps it is. Perhaps the ultimate ‘acid test’ is that if the depicted cannot see themselves in the media representation then it isn’t a faithful one. How one represents internal diversity of religion and belief without the representation collapsing into a relativist black hole must be a perennial challenge for media professionals.

And helpful to what or whom? To what end does the media operate in relation to religion? What agreed codes dictate professional behaviour around this? These are unanswered questions, made all the more challenging as media proliferate.

What the ‘Faith on the Air’ research is beginning to find is that broadcasters at the BBC always took meticulous care over the content of religious (school) broadcasts.  Not only did scripts go through multiple edits, the norm was for experts in the field to be consulted (and heard) and the best creative resources drawn upon. It is sometimes hard to imagine how deadlines were met given the significant work that went into constructing any single broadcast piece.

And it’s fascinating to see how the agenda of religious (school) broadcasting was reshaped to meet the changing audience and public need over time. The multi-denominational (though Anglican led) Religious Broadcasting Department slowly became more open to what it was more permissible to represent, question or debate, adopting a broadly ‘liberal’ approach where this was in line with the core values of the Corporation.

Of course, all this doesn’t subtract from the issue that what is represented to the audience is implicated in some way in normalising religion for the media user; as Stig Hjarvard would have it religion has become mediatized. What the BBC (and all other media) are part of is a framing of religion its practice as media represents and enacts it. In short what I see/read/hear is what religion is for me; how the media enacts religion, inviting me to participate, becomes in some way religion for me. In this context the Something to Think About, Together, the Daily Service and Songs of Praise become much more potent.

Which brings us back to the question posed by the Commission, but in a more focused sense, and relate to David Voas’ contribution on Public Spirit. Which philosophies of broadcasting and which values are being privileged in media representations? In the context of public service broadcasting, which we all have a stake in, this question becomes more acute.

 Professor Stephen Parker, October 2014