Two Bishops yesterday suggested that without ‘strong and vibrant public service content’, broadcasting after the digital switchover could ‘sow confusion and mistrust rather than aid public enlightenment and social cohesion’ – creating a modern day ‘Tower of Babel’.
The statement comes as many in the churches raise concerns about losing their voice in broadcasting.
The proliferation of new radio and television channels means that the traditional ‘god slots’ on radio and television, which have given the institutional churches significant airtime, are becoming less and less significant.
Churches are also losing a degree of control over what is broadcast about religion, with a greater number of voices from outside the traditional church structures able to contribute to debate and comment.
The bishops said they believed that the ‘voices of the many digital channels’ and ‘the proliferation of user-generated content on the internet’ could be a ‘bewildering cacophony’.
In submissions to Ofcom’s Second Review of Public Service Broadcasting, the Church of England and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales argue that UK public service broadcasting must therefore be funded, sustained and adapted to fit the world after digital switchover.
The submissions call “for all necessary action to be taken to sustain and develop public service broadcasting for the common good.” They support the funding of providers of public service content beyond the BBC and praise Ofcom for recognising that there might be new forms of subsidy for public service content.
The bishops go on to argue that the role of public service content is helping television audiences ‘to reach a balanced understanding of the world must survive, and that if the quality and breadth of public service content is diminished following digital switchover, society as a whole will suffer’.
Speaking today about their submissions, The Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester and the Rt Revd John Arnold, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster said: “There is a real risk that the flood of information from a proliferation of digital channels could be confusing and bewildering creating a modern Tower of Babel rather than being enlightening. Public service broadcasting can be a comprehensive, authoritative and trustworthy guide in this environment. Therefore the full range of public service content needs to be made available across all platforms – internet, mobile and digital.”
The bishops’ submissions suggest that, ‘given the extent to which faith shapes many decisions and actions’, public service content that ‘fails to adequately reflect the complex realities of faith in the modern world’ will ‘fall short of its purpose to help people understand themselves and their communities’.
But Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the religous thinktank Ekklesia said: “The story of the ‘Tower of Babel’ which the bishops have used to make their case is an unfortunate one to have chosen.
“In the story, the different languages are given to people by God in response to the centralisation of power and people’s desire to ‘make a name for themselves’. The Tower more accurately represents the special privileges that the church has previously enjoyed. The digital switchover will diminish the control of the institutional churches in broadcasting, and mean that their voice will increasingly have to take its place amongst the others on religious matters.
“Whilst it is important that good quality programming is encouraged wherever possible, this should not be a cover for attempts by institutional religion to control public debate on religious matters.”
Also on Ekklesia: ‘Hearing hope through the babble’, by Simon Barrow – http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/7186