BBC justifies it’s appointments to Religious Affairs

17/06/2009 by David.

I am indebted to my MP for permission to quote the letter from the Director of the BBC in respect of the appointment of non-Christians to offices in the corporation:-” Mr Green wrote to you following speculation in the press that the BBC might appoint a non-Christian to the post of Head of Religion & Ethics. As you may know, the BBC has now announced that the successful candidate for this post is Aaqil Ahmed, who is Muslim.

I cannot agree with your constituent that a Muslim is not qualified for this position either on the basis that Britain is predominantly Christian, or the belief that such faith precludes an understanding of and sensitivity towards other faiths. Aaqil was simply, in our view, the best candidate for the role. He has almost ten years experience in religious broadcasting - first at the BBC, where he was Deputy Editor for Documentaries at BBC Religion and more recently as Head of Religion and Multicultural at Channel 4 where he was responsible for commissioning many successful programmes concerning faith, including the well-regarded Christianity: A History.

It is BBC policy to recruit on experience and suitability to the post, not on the basis of faith. I would add that this is not only a question of BBC policy, but of UK law.

Your constituent also points to the religion of the producer of the programme Songs of Praise, Tommy Nagra, who is Sikh. Again, I do not believe that Tommy’s religion precludes him from being able to make programming about Christianity. Tommy, like Aaqil, is an experienced programme maker, well used to serving Christian audiences with a wide range of programming.

Christianity is the majority faith of the UK, and Christian programming will remain the cornerstone of the BBC’s Religion and Ethics department output.

Thank you for writing to me. I hope that my letter will allow you to respond to your constituent.

Best wishes

Mark Thompson”

This letter makes the BBC’s position clear.Letter from BBC to MP 

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