Sandford St Martin Awards

The annual Sandford St Martin Awards (for excellence in religious broadcasting) will be presented at Lambeth Palace on Monday 3 June 2013. The shortlisting was not easy this year and the quality of submitted radio and television programmes was very high. A nice problem to have. Here's the list:

TELEVISON NOMINEES

ANGELIC VOICES: The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral (Wingspan Productions for BBC FOUR)

This film follows Salisbury Cathedral's choristers as they go about their daily lives, discovering their history and singing some of the most loved music under the direction of choir master David Halls.

ARENA: SISTER WENDY AND THE ART OF THE GOSPEL (CTVC for BBC 2)

Sister Wendy Beckett became a star when she travelled the world telling us the story of Christian art, but revealed little of her own extraordinary story. This programme seeks out the 'real' Wendy, who, at 82, talks frankly, humorously, and profoundly about her life and spirituality for the first time.

DAVID SUCHET: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST PAUL (CTVC and Jerusalem Trust (Episode 1) for BBC ONE)

St Paul transformed the fledgling Jesus movement into a new global faith. In this programme, David Suchet takes a very personal journey to uncover how an obscure Jewish sect from the edge of the Roman Empire became the dominant force in Western civilisation.

GOODBYE TO CANTERBURY (BBC Factual Arts for BBC TWO)

This film makes public Archbishop Rowan’s reflections as he leaves office and says a public last farewell to the cathedral that was his HQ and home for the past 10 years. Beginning with the saving of the cathedral from German bombs in 1942 he delves back in time to reflect upon the historical and spiritual influence of this “mother church of England”.

ISLAM: THE UNTOLD STORY (Maya Vision for CHANNEL FOUR)

Historian Tom Holland explored the origins of Islam. His journey led him to an exploration of a very contemporary fault-line: the one that runs between science and religion, history and faith.

THE HIDDEN ART OF ISLAM (Quicksilver Media / BBC Religion & Ethics for BBC FOUR)

At the British Museum a collection of artefacts from the Muslim world includes an art form not usually associated with Islam: portraits, depictions of human figures and tableaux showing pilgrims performing the most important pillar of the Muslim faith. Rageh Omaar sets out to find if human depiction is the source of controversy, which forms of art are acceptable for a Muslim and why this artistic tradition has thrived.

THE PRESTON PASSION (BBC Religion and Ethics / BBC Drama for BBC ONE)

Fern Britton presents this ambitious project involving 3,500 residents of the Lancashire town creating a Passion play with a difference. All intercut with three pre- recorded dramas — Pilate, Mary and Jesus — based on in Preston past and present.

STRICTLY KOSHER (ITV Studios for ITV 1)

Chris Malone’s affectionate portrait of Jews living in Manchester – hailed by critics and audiences alike. It explores life in Manchester's Jewish community featuring family, food and festivals. From footballing rabbis to Holocaust survivors, rag trade entrepreneurs to Jewish mothers, this series stitched together a tapestry of experiences to create a picture of life today for Britain’s observant — and not so observant — Jews.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY (BBC Religion & Ethics for BBC TWO (Episode 1))

This programme took a behind-the-scenes look at one of Britain’s most historic institutions. Each episode explored the inner workings of the Abbey, following clergy, choirboys and lay people including a plumber, librarian and Press Office “tweeter.

4thought.tv 2nd series Anti Semitism (Waddell Media for CHANNEL FOUR)

This series seeks to reflect upon and address matters of faith seriously and each of the speakers was a passionate believer. A powerful insight into issues of anti- semitism.

RADIO NOMINEES

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED – GET ME TO GETHSEMANE (BBC Radio Wales)

Focusing on one woman’s journey, this programme tells how Gauri Taylor-Nayar’s dying husband urged her to lead Cathays Community Methodist Choir as a focus after his death. “Get me to Gethsemane” tells the story of the choir’s preparations for a performance, Gauri’s bereavement, music and faith, and the moment she realised what Gethsemane had to teach about the Resurrection.

BLASPHEMY AND THE GOVERNOR OF THE PUNJAB (Goldhawk for BBC Radio 4)

Following the case of Asia Bibi, a Punjabi Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, Goldhawk discovered that being accused in Pakistan is enough to put you in prison, and many face death threats despite no trial. They wanted Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab and blasphemy law campaigner, to front the programme, until he was gunned down in a parking lot. This programme tells the story.

EASTER AND CHRISTMAS DIARIES (BBC Radio Four Extra)

An innovative real-time telling of the passion story in bite-sized dramas across the preceding week, told by well-known characters and those on the edge of the story. From the disciples talking about trouble in the Temple, to Mary, mother of Jesus, describing the crucifixion, the passion story is made real.

ECHOES OF EASTER (West Sound Radio)

Fifteen different episodes “from our reporter on the spot in Jerusalem” interviewing the many characters caught up in the drama of the Crucifixion.

ERIC LIDDELL; THE SPIRIT LIVES ON (BBC Radio Scotland)

Eric Liddell, famous Scot, Olympic hero who would not run the Olympics on a Sunday because of his faith but went on to win gold. This programme hears from those few remaining who knew Eric in Weihsien and whose faith has been influenced by his memory.

THE ESSAY; THE CASE FOR DOUBT (CTVC for BBC Radio 3)

Five contributors make a case for doubt, political, religious, scientific and self-doubt. This programme focuses on religious doubt, by scientist and author Madeline Bunting.

HEARING RAGAS (BBC Bristol for Radio 4)

Hearing Ragas is about the near death experience, altered perceptions of the Divine through suffering, and the power of music to reach us in inexplicable ways. It is violinist Prof Paul Robertson’s remarkable story of the India ragas he heard from within a coma, and the healing effect Sir John Tavener’s music had in his recovery.

HEART & SOUL : CANADA REAL (A & M North for BBC World Service)

Canada Real is a dirty, drug-infested shanty town just 30 miles from Madrid. But deep inside the Canada, just off the dusty road where dealers conduct their business through car windows, is a church, home to Padre Augustin, parish priest of the Canada. John Laurenson meets him and sees how he offers hope to the people.

HEART AND SOUL; JAPAN, HOPE AMID THE CHAOS (CTVC for BBC WORLD SERVICE)

As the first anniversary of Japan’s devastating tsunami approaches, Reporter Gerry Northam tells how the Shinto faith of the bereaved and homeless has been tested, and how they are stoic in the face of such terrible circumstances.

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER (BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Drama, London)

Testament stories revisited and set in present day pre-Christmas London, introduced by Rev Dr Giles Fraser. Tom Wells sets the Parable of the Sower in a Secondary School lunchtime science club, where Ellie D is inspired to test the parable using cress.

THE PULSE PASSION (The Pulse, Whistling Frog Productions)

A series of short drop-ins made for the Pulse of West Yorkshire using personal testimonies based on five major themes from the passion story

On Remembrance Sunday Anna Magnusson hears from those who experienced the Arctic Convoys and the people who witnessed the drama off Scotland’s shores: stories that seek to capture the enormity of the sacrifices made and express the heartbreaking tenderness the shared humanity of compassion and loss.

 

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Religious broadcasting (again)

I published a piece in yesterday's Guardian Media Blog on religious broadcasting. The comments that follow on the Guardian site are predictable, if not very rational. Here's the text:

Mention the words “religious broadcasting” in polite company and you can feel the slightly embarrassed echoes of Songs of Praise and Thought for the Day float away into the ether. It's not a great theme to introduce in chat-up lines at parties either.

Which, of course, is a tragedy.

There are two problems here: (a) the word “religious” has become popularly associated with concepts such as “tedious”, “dangerous” or “problematic”; (b) the word “broadcasting” seems to leave out all the social and digital media that now grab the first bite of most people's engagement.

The latter is easier to deal with quickly. As the Olympics opening ceremony proved, there is still a place for the mass shared audience experience, even if many of those watching are also tweeting their reflexive responses to what they see on their screen.

The former is a tougher nut to crack. Before 9/11 religion was seen in the west as a disappearing phenomenon; post-9/11 it was seen as a growing problem.

The truth, however, is that religion encompasses the whole of human experience and cannot be shunted off into some corner reserved for private opinion or “weird stuff”. And it isn't simply about what people “believe”.

Excellent religious broadcasting matters because it plays on a broad field that encompasses politics, economics, ethics, art, drama, sport, biography… and anything that has anything to do with human life, motivation or collective living. Religion not only shapes how communities organise, but also is integral to any understanding of why people are who they are and do what they do in the ways that they do it. And this space should not be reserved for people who claim to be religious (in any sense); it brings into play anyone who is interested in why the world is the way it is and what makes people live the way they do.

It is possible to argue that the world needs more, not less, religious broadcasting. At a time when mutual incomprehension (partly in the light of fundamentalisms) causes difficulties, there is a massive need for good programming that interprets, explores and explains human motivations – especially when they have roots in particular religious world views, practices or rituals.

In one sense, this shouldn't need to be pointed out. This isn't about special pleading for minority interests or finding excuses for broadcasting no one wants to watch. On the contrary, it is simply to recognise (whatever particular world view I or others might hold) that religion is massively important to the world and needs to be understood and interpreted.

I chair the Sandford St Martin Trust, a charity that promotes excellence in religious broadcasting and awards the most prestigious prizes in this field. The quality of submitted entries for 2013 is extremely high. Many of the shortlisted programmes were not made in or for a religious category. But, like the Olympics opening ceremony, they are driven by or include themes that are simply incomprehensible without some understanding of religion (as an economic or political motivator, for example) or religion as a factor in history.

The field is wide open for commissioning editors to cast a wide and creative net, awakening curiosity and digging deeply into the shape of human experience. We need more. And we need more confidence to be shown in scheduling such material.

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Excellent broadcasting (again)

This evening saw the 2012 Sandford St Martin Trust awards ceremony at Lambeth Palace. It was a good gig, but air conditioning might have helped cool the place down. Yet, there is something really powerful about all the great portraits of dead Archbishops of Canterbury staring down unamused by the hi-tech stuff going on in the Guard Room. Why powerful? Because it gives a sense of perspective to the immediate when the continuity of the past keeps looking at you.

Anyway, these annual awards, attended by programme makers, independent production companies and broadcast executives from around the UK, highlight the cream of mainstream religious broadcasting in the UK over the preceding 12 months. They attract entries from all the major broadcast channels as well as BBC and commercial local stations, and – more recently – new media productions. Prizes are awarded in radio and television categories.

This year’s top prizes went to a BBC TWO production – “The Life of Muhammad” made by the independent company “Crescent Films” – and a BBC Radio Scotland production “Resurrection Stories” presented by Anna Magnusson, reflecting on her experience of loss and hope after the death of her brother, Sigi.

The editor of the Radio Times, Ben Preston, announced the winner of the Radio Times Readers’ Award taken from a poll to choose the readers’ favourite religious production of the year. Their award went to Songs of Praise 50th Anniversary - a trilogy of programmes, culminating in a spectacular show from Alexandra Palace featuring singers Catherine Jenkins, Beverley Knight and Leanne Rimes.

Announcing the TV winner, the Journalist and Catholic commentator Paul Donovan praised the way “The Life of Muhammad” had tackled a very difficult subject with great sensitivity.

The Radio Prize winner – Anna Magnusson (daughter of the late Magnus, and sister to Sally Magnusson) based much of her winning programme on reflections around the death of her brother Sigi when she was just 13. Now 38 years on, faced with questions raised by the description of Jesus’ resurrection – she explored how contemporary Christians could respond to the Gospel account.

In awarding the prize to Anna and her BBC Scotland producer Mo McCullogh, the chair of the radio judges Priscilla Chadwick – said “This was a most impressive programme…a very reflective, highly personal and deeply theological exploration of the issues which allowed space for ‘questioning hopefully’ that one day Anna would be reunited with her much loved brother.

As Chairman of the Sandford St Martin Trust, I chaired the event and presented the awards. I was able to praise the imaginative programming that had been entered for the awards. I also noted that religion is no longer a niche commission, even appearing on entertainment channels such as Sky Atlantic who’ve just ordered a 6 part series featuring a gang of Jewish bikers from North London who will be talking about their beliefs and how faith affects them.

My comment was simple: “Religion is not primarily about mere ideas; it is about people, communities and the stuff of human existence. It is rich, ripe and fertile soil for stories that expand and enrich our understanding of life and its biggest questions.”

2012 Television winners

Premier Award:

The Life of Muhammad: Ep 1 – The Seeker

(Crescent Films for BBC2)

Runner Up:

The King James Bible: The Book that Changed the World

(BBC Religion for BBC2)

Merit Award 1:

Ian Hislop: When Bankers Were Good

(Wingspan productions for BBC2)

Merit Award 2:

Wonderland: A Hasidic Guide to Love, Marriage and Finding a Bride

(BBC Factual for BBC2)

2012 Radio Winners

Premier Prize:

Resurrection Stories

BBC Radio Scotland

Runner Up:

Faith and 9/11

TBI media for BBC Radio2

Merit Award 1:

Something Understood: Abraham

Unique: the Production Company for BBC Radio 4

Merit Award 2:

Good Friday Reflection

Central FM

 

 

Losing our religion (Radio Times)

This is the text of the Radio Times article which caused a bit of irritated response in some quarters. It will be obvious that it is not critical of the BBC, but congratulatory and ‘encouraging’ of how things might develop constructively.

A couple of years ago, before X-Factor ‘popularised’ it, I contributed to a BBC Radio 2 documentary celebrating the 25^th anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s great song Hallelujah. Covered by more than 120 artists, Cohen the Perfectionist ended up writing and re-writing around 80 verses or versions. The lyric, full of biblical allusions, breathes some human realism into a word that would normally be seen as purely religious (and, therefore, rather suspect).

During an interview with Guy Garvey, singer-songwriter with Elbow and presenter of the documentary, he put it to me that “Cohen had hijacked religious language”. “No,” I replied, “Cohen has understood it.” By this I meant that Cohen had liberated the word from some assumed compartment called ‘religion’ and given it back to real people living in the real world and with real stories to tell. The song speaks of the ‘holy and the broken hallelujah’ – a phrase that encapsulates the torn nature of human beings who long to be ‘holy’ but usually manage just to be ‘broken’. Cohen’s point is that God is not surprised by this.

Leonard Cohen refused to allow ‘religion’ to be stuck in a compartment from which everybody else is spared any engagement. Religion and its place in the public discourse are much misunderstood.

Mention ‘religious broadcasting’ in polite company and you might well be faced with finding someone else to talk to. Either that or it’s assumed you’re really wanting more Songs of Praise on the television to keep the Christians (who haven’t gone to church) happy.

Yet, this isn’t the case. Religious broadcasting simply takes seriously the indisputable fact that religion is a phenomenon that has to be acknowledged and understood, if we are to understand the world in which we live. This doesn’t presuppose a religious commitment, conviction, practice or adherence any more than doing a programme about Marxism demands that only Marxists produce it.

The BBC’s Easter programming looks increasingly imaginative, finding creative and engaging ways of telling the Easter story, questioning the implications of the Easter story, capturing the experience of Christians celebrating the Easter story. The Preston Passion follows on from the superb Manchester Passion of several years ago, taking Easter out of the church and onto the streets. This enables everyone to be part of it and be confronted by it. A bit like… er… the original Easter events.

However, go beyond the BBC (and the odd bit of Channel 4) and religion has been dropped as if it were a toxic contaminator of decent culture. This ideological knee-jerk sees religion as an embarrassing problem (for which there is obviously no audience) rather than part of a solution (one lens through which to tell stories and understand people, their lives and motivations). ITV sees no need to consider religion – despite the fact that more people shape their lives around religious conviction and practice than attend sporting events. Now look at the relative budgets given to sport and religion…

The point here is not that religion should be privileged or protected. It is not to argue that religious propaganda should find space in the schedules of broadcasters. But it is to maintain that we can’t understand people, events and the way the world is if we don’t take religion seriously.

The BBC has a sports editor, an economics editor, a political editor and editors for other areas of life. It has no religion editor. Yet, if an economics editor is needed to help explain and interpret economic decisions and events in order that the public should be responsible citizens in our democracy, why on earth isn’t there someone to explain, interpret and communicate the phenomenon of religion as it influences people, colours political and economic decisions, questions values and shapes both individual and corporate behaviour?

There are two issues here. First, how does the BBC fulfil its public service remit by challenging the ridiculous assumption that the ‘non-religious’ world view is neutral? Second, how do other broadcasters get beyond their own prejudices and see religion as an indispensable lens through which to see and understand the world?

There are some shining examples – despite the problems of encouraging imaginative commissioning – of good religious broadcasting. Some are on the Sandford St Martin Trust Radio Times Readers Award shortlist: the humanising Rev, the powerfully questioning Forgiveness, the affecting re-telling of the Life of Mohammed, to name but three. But, the need is for a change in assumption and perception of religion as phenomenon, motivator and shaper of human stories.

Good media need good stories. Religion is not primarily about mere ideas; it is about people, communities and the stuff of human existence. It is rich, ripe and fertile soil.

 

Questioning the assumptions (again)

Driving over to York this morning I was interested to listen to a piece on the abortion debate on BBC Radio 4. What was intriguing was not the (rather predictable) discussion, but rather the fact that it was the ‘Science Editor’ who commented on it. This betrays the assumption that we are dealing with a medical matter rather than an ethical one. (OK, the bill going through Parliament today would come under that brief, but it still begs the question.)

Maybe I was attuned to this because yesterday I was chairing the Sandford St Martin Trust in London. The Trust’s objective is to ‘promote excellence in religious broadcasting’ and it seeks to do this in a variety of ways, but principally by making prestigious annual awards.

At the Awards Ceremony at Lambeth Palace in May 2010 Roger Bolton made a bold case for the appointment by the BBC of a Religion Editor. He was not asking for an apologist or an evangelist, but an interpreter.

We live in a world in which, whether the commentariat like it or not, religion is (a) a powerful motivator of both individuals and communities, and (b) a social, political, economic and cultural phenomenon – that is, a reality that cannot be simply ignored (because “we don’t like it and wish it wasn’t there”) and cannot be neutered by uncritical assumptions about secular or ‘scientific’ neutrality.

The public discourse needs an interpreter to do for religion what Evan Davies did for economics.

The discussion on the radio this morning was good, but it would have been even better if there had been a brief interpretation or explanation of why different people see things the way they do, derived from the assumptions they assume. If you know what I mean.

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Location:Bishopthorpe, York

 

Telling tales

Last night I had the privilege of presenting the 2011 Sandford St Martin Awards at Lambeth Palace. The Trust aims to encourage excellence in religious broadcasting. The great thing is that ‘religious’ is emerging from the niche into the mainstream. Last night’s event showcased some wonderful stuff made by some very creative people.

The television awards panel of judges was chaired by Peter Bazalgette who has been described by the Independent as ‘the most influential man in British television’. (The Daily Mail, on the other hand, accused him of singlehandedly depraving the morality of the country by propagating reality television in these islands!) In his remarks he had a pop at television for not treating seriously enough the killing of Osama Bin Laden. He recognised that radio had considered the  ethics of what he called ‘the assassination’, but that television had simply reconstructed the events and avoided serious debate.

The television award went to the remarkable Nativity, written by Tony Jordan (East Enders, Minder, The Hustle, etc.). The Nativity also won the Radio Times Readers’ Award, so I got to interview Tony twice along with his production team. Tony pointed out that the theologians and historians he interviewed debunked the story, but in the writing of the characters and the narrative he had begun to consider it ‘true’. I put to him what he has been quoted as saying: “The Nativity is a true story and a thing of beauty.” He described how, as a man who lives in ‘character’ and ‘story’, he recognises a true story when he sees one. This programme had changed him and his team told similar stories.

In one sense this is not a surprise. Some of us have been banging on for years about the fact that the Bible is not primarily a book of doctrines, but a collection of stories, characters and earthy experience: a rich fund for those who tell stories and explore ‘reality’ and ‘truth’ through them. A bit like Jesus did when he told stories and used images that tease away in the imagination in ways that propositional arguments do not.

However, Nativity pipped both a serious documentary on ‘beggar children’ and the wonderful Rev series – which humanised clergy, demonised archdeacons and exposed the raw stuff of church life and leadership in a tough local community. As another series is promised, they MUST submit again next year.

The radio judging panel was chaired by the Master of St Peter’s College, Oxford, who until relatively recently was Controller of BBC Radio 4 and Radio 7, Mark Damazer. The Premier Award was given to the BBC for daring to schedule 7 hours of readings of the King James Bible – in a single day. It was electric stuff and brought the Bible alive. Other recognised programmes included one from a prison, an axamination of the Pope (so to speak) and a surprising brief programme from West Yorkshire critiquing the image of Jesus as ‘meek and mild’.

We also gave a special award to the BBC for 50 years of Songs of Praise – a remarkable example of commitment to public service broadcasting.

Full details of winners and other awards can be found on the Sandford St Martin website along with a few photos.

The key encouragement is, of course, that mainstream media genres were throwing up programmes dealing with ‘religious’ themes: humanity, morality, faith, ethics, Bible, religious commitment, and so on. Wonderful stuff.

 

A cuckoo in the nest?

Recently the BBC appointed Aaqil Ahmed to be its new Head of Religion and Ethics and Commissioning Editor for Religion TV. This appointment has provoked a good deal of heated response and debate, not least in the media. It seems now that a motion has been put down for the forthcoming meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England in which the appointment of Ahmed will be questioned as part of a wider complaint about the diminution of serious religious broadcasting in the UK.

According to reports in today’s newspapers (heralded in a fair piece on Friday by Jonathan Wynne-Jones of the Telegraph), the following seems to be the case:

1. The motion before the Synod calls on the BBC to explain the decline in its coverage of religion and its failure to provide enough programming during key Christian festivals.

2. The document accompanying the motion criticises the lack of regular religious programmes on BBC television and alleges that Mr Ahmed, a Muslim, displayed anti-Christian bias while in charge of commissioning at Channel 4. “The regular BBC Television coverage of religion consists of just two programmes… BBC 3 tackles religion rarely but does so from the angle of the freak show, and many of the Channel 4 programmes concerned with Christianity, in contrast to those featuring other faiths, seem to be of a sensationalist or unduly critical nature.”

3. Concern is then expressed that “from this point of view it is worrying that the Channel 4 religion and multicultural commissioning editor, Aaqil Ahmed, who is a Muslim, is soon to be responsible for all the religious output from the BBC.” Why? Read on…

4. Last summer, Channel 4 screened a week of special programmes on Islam including a feature-length documentary on the Quran, and a series of interviews with Muslims around the world talking about their beliefs. The main Christian documentary broadcast for Easter that year, called The Secrets of the 12 Disciples, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Pope’s leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

5. This shows that traditional religious broadcasting is under threat and that ”the appointment of Aaqil Ahmed gives rise to an element of concern… He has been involved with programmes that have tended to look at the fringes of Christianity where it can be brought into disrepute.”

6. While the BBC’s total output of television hours has doubled over the past 20 years, the amount of religious coverage has fallen by nearly 15 per cent, from 177 hours in 1988 to 155 in 2008.

Well, I met Ahmed briefly after the Sandford St Martin Awards at Lambeth Palace recently. He was displeased with my lack of overwhelming welcome for his appointment during my keynote speech at the event and tried to leave without speaking to me. I can well understand his misery at the way his appointment has been received in some quarters, but I had actually gone out of my way to note his appointment (and the promotion of Christine Morgan in the same department), offer critical friendship and say the blindingly obvious: that I would be watching to see how things develop. This was heard negatively, but the petulence that followed was a bit sad. Ahmed needs friends and allies and won’t win them by responding the way he did.

But, the appointment of Ahmed as a Muslim is not the problem. It is entirely possible that a non-Christian theist will give better attention to Christianity than an atheist. What matters is that a good commissioning editor does his job properly, recognising that religion matters, that this country has a deeply Christian heritage, that most of the population have Christian roots (if not commitments) and that Christianity has to be taken seriously.

Indeed, according to the Telegraph report, Samir Shah, a non-executive director at the corporation, said that the programme-maker’s critics might be surprised to find that he raises the profile of religion at the BBC. “I think that they’ll find that ultimately it will be a Muslim who drives up the amount of Christianity on the schedules,” Mr Shah said.

But the real question is this: will Ahmed bring to coverage of Christianity the same intelligent and explanatory approach he has brought to coverage of Islam and the Quran at Channel 4? It seems to me that coverage of Islam assumes ignorance on the part of viewers and, therefore, seeks to explain before offering a critique. When it comes to Christianity, however, understanding is (mistakenly) assumed and the critique is almost always wholly negative – and frequently weak. Why, for example, does coverage of the Quran use sympathetic voices whereas the series on Christianity gives voice to critics – not to people from within the faith? A series on the Bible planned for 2011 (the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible – which shaped the English language and people) has now been ditched.

Even Don Maclean has joined in the fray. According to a report in the Mail on Sunday (!), he commented that “you don’t see any programmes on Anglicanism that don’t talk about homosexual clergy and you don’t see anything on Roman Catholicism that don’t talk about paedophiles… They seem to take the negative angle every time.”

A satirical take on this can be read on the Ship of Fools website in an article following the ‘sacking’ of Michael Wakelin from the job that Ahmed will now assume (in revised form):

For almost 70 years, the BBC played it far too safe when it came to religion. It’s hard to believe, but only people with a long-term commitment to religious broadcasting (and a devoted faith) were appointed head of BBC Religion. Canon David Winter, Rev Dr Colin Morris, Rev Ernie Rea… an endless procession of dog collars ran the show.

But the new millennium heralded a fresh, enlightened dawn. In 2001 Alan Bookbinder, avowedly agnostic and (refreshingly) with no particular commitment to religious broadcasting, was given the hot seat.

Some doubted the move, but the thinking of the BBC’s top brass was visionary. They took as their model Sir David Attenborough. He has absolutely no interest in wildlife and conservation, and that’s what makes his programmes so compelling. And Alan Titchmarsh is a self-confessed, feet under the desk, office type who can’t bear the outdoors. His highly popular programmes on gardening and the natural world are the result.

I hope the Synod will avoid silly scaremongering about religious broadcasting and that only people who know what they are talking about will be allowed to speak in the debate. The media world is changing rapidly and protected space will lead only to acquiescence to religious narrowcasting. It is not enough for the Synod to repeat well-meant mantras deploring falling standards without offering serious proposals for how religious broadcasting ought to be shaped in the new and emerging worlds of digital media.