Bishop Nick Baines weighs in on a Religion Editor for the BBC

Bishop Nick has just posted a very clear explanation as to why the BBC should have a Religion Editor as suggested back in May by Roger Bolton and by The Church of England as I posted about here.

Bishop Nick says...

Now, no doubt this will provoke the secularists again as it appears to represent special pleading by Christians for more ‘religious’ programmes. 

Well they would be wrong as Bishop Nigel said in Church of England's submission to The BBC Trust as reported in The Guardian...

The church said programmes such as Daily Service, Choral Evensong, Sunday, Moral Maze and Something Understood, and one-off documentaries including Twin Sisters and Two Faiths helped present "an authentic portrayal of Christian worship [alongside] in-depth discussions and explorations of religious and ethical themes".  It said Radio 4 broadcast more than the required number of hours of religious programming, and said the three BBC stations, along with Radio 3 and Radio 7, "broadcast an unparalleled range and depth of religious programming which deserves grateful acknowledgement by all those concerned with increasing mutual understanding between people of all faiths and none".

Bishop Nick continues....

This, however, is a big mistake. In the same way that the BBC decided that some elements of the world’s news need to be understood and explained – interpreted – , so the religious perspective needs similar treatment. .....  A Religion Editor would not be there to propagate or evangelise (thank God), but to explain, interpret and educate. Think how different things might have been if the 9/11 media coverage had had such a person who actually understood Islam before the crime was committed.
Such a person might also offer some advocacy for those who feel constantly misrepresented by media coverage of religion or of religious perspectives on world events. I know this will raise temperatures  among those who believe Richard Dawkins is infallible and fundamentally inerrant (and I know his current programmes are broadcast from the Channel 4 stable, not the BBC), but we might be spared some of the nonsense that gets through the editors’ desks when it comes to religion.

It is well worth reading the rest of Bishop Nick's post.  I hope The BBC Trust get to read it.