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.Subscribe and support the podcast here.@[email protected] Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Roger Bolton, formerly presenter of BBC Radio 4's 'Feedback' launches his very first podcast. Free from the constraints of broadcasting on the BBC, with a few more opinions and casting his net a little bit wider to encompass the whole of the BBC, Roger examines the issues that are facing the corporation and public service broadcasting.Find all our podcasts hereAnd please support this podcast by subscribing hereWe also support VLV (Voice of the Listener and Viewer) which represents the interests of audiences to make sure we continue to benefit from high quality radio and TV in the UK. You can find them here  Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.