An internal review by the BBC has declared the news organization is far too Christian and needs to make way for more diverse news programming from an Islamic perspective.
The BBC’s head of religion and ethics, Aaqil Ahmed, has sent a report to Lord Hall, director general of BBC, showing that other faiths don’t get nearly as much exposure as Christianity, which still has many shows dedicated to it. A rapidly increasing Muslim population in Britain has placed pressure on the broadcasting corporation to reevaluate programming policies. An analysis conducted by the Office for National Statistics found that some parts of London are nearly half Muslim.
Some of the new programming may include broadcasting Friday prayers from inside a mosque or showing children receiving instruction from the Quran, The Sunday Times reports.
It’s unclear at this point if more programming for Muslims and Sikhs will mean less for Christians, the BBC said.
“Christianity remains the cornerstone of our output and there are more hours dedicated to it than there are to other faiths,” Ahmed noted in the report. “Our output in this area is not static, though. It has evolved over the years and we regularly assess it.”
Ahmed himself is Muslim. He has previously faced criticism for holding a pro-Islam bias, according to a 2009 report from The Telegraph.
News of this internal report prompted backlash from former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey.
“I don’t think our liberal establishment appreciates what Christianity has done for the nation, and how much of a bedrock it is for democracy and the values we believe in,” Carey said, according to The Sunday Times. “There is a real feeling by Christians of being let down by the Establishment. Christianity is fighting for its life in western countries.”
The BBC has radically shifted towards an agenda of bringing in more minorities, whether racial, religious, or sexual.
The BBC hopes that a sixth of its workforce will either be gay, lesbian or disabled by 2020. A survey from the BBC in 2010 found that 1.5 percent of people in Britain identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Half of its workforce must be female. Minorities must comprise 15 percent of employees, according to a previous report. The broadcasting corporation employs 20,000 people.
Hall will now have to review the report and decide what direction to take the organization.
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