Ads by Muslim Ad Network

“Christian” BBC Urged to Offer More Airtime to Faiths

CAIRO – An internal review by the BBC Corporation has found that the content broadcasted is too Christian, suggesting giving more airtime to Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths.

Christianity remains the cornerstone of our output and there are more hours dedicated to it than there are to other faiths,” Aaqil Ahmed, the BBC’s head of religion and ethics, wrote in a report to the House of Commons, The Telegraph reported.

“Our output in this area is not static, though. It has evolved over the years and we regularly assess it.”

He added: “We do look at the number of hours we produce, and measure that against the religious make-up of society.”

The BBC is too Christian in its religious output, according to an internal review, and should increase its Muslim, Hindu and Sikh programming.

Ads by Muslim Ad Network

Ahmed told a Commons meeting on religious literacy he had written a report for Lord Hall that would answer criticisms from non-Christian faiths that they were under-served.

The report is now being considered by Lord Hall, the director general, who could make changes to make religious output less “disproportionate”, the Sunday Times (£) reported.

After the reveal of the report, Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain, suggested the review could lead to Friday prayers from a mosque being broadcast in the same way that Christian church services currently feature in the BBC’s schedules.

He added: “We would not wish Christians to have any less exposure.”

The BBC’s religious output on television includes Songs of Praise and Sunday Morning Live, while radio also features a wide range of religious content including Thought for the Day on Radio Four’s Today program.