More than 100 British politicians, academics and artists
have sent a letter of protest to the BBC, alleging discrimination because of
the broadcaster's decision to keep atheists out of its "Thought for the
Day" radio slot.
According to its website, the BBC describes Thought for the Day, a daily
feature on its flagship Today program, as "a slot for reflections on
topical matters from the perspective of a religious faith."
The slot, which runs just under three minutes on the three-hour Today show,
includes on a rotating basis contributions from the world's major religions -
but no atheists or agnostics.
Supporters of a campaign started by the National Secular Society and the
British Humanist Association have written to the BBC's Board of Governors in an
attempt to get that policy changed.
"The fact is, secularists have thoughts on ethical issues that are
appropriate for this slot," said Terry Sanderson, a spokesman for the
protesters. "There's a lot of support for our stance."
He said the objections raised over Thought for the Day were part of a larger
effort by secularists to persuade the BBC to reduce its religious output.
"While the influence of religion is waning in this country, the influence
of religion over broadcasting is increasing," he said.
Sanderson said there are an "awful lot" of religious spokespeople
quoted on the morning Today program and accused the BBC of being swayed by the
established Church of England.
"No way could you argue that the rest of the program (besides Thought for
the Day) is secular," he said.
Representatives of the BBC and the Church of England denied the claims,
however.
"It's widely known that scheduling decisions made by broadcasters are
jealously guarded," a Church spokesman said. "They're not broadly
open to the influence of outsiders."
The Church of England supports the BBC's policy of keeping Thought for the
Day's religious orientation, the spokesman said, and also supports keeping it
open to a variety of religions.
"Given that roughly 70 percent of the country profess some sort of belief,
we think it's fair that there is an item such as this during a daily news
program," the spokesman said. "The coverage of spirituality and
religion is an important aspect of broadcasting."
Although the BBC is currently considering revamping the slot, which has run
since 1970, a spokeswoman for the broadcaster said there are no plans to
include non-believing contributors.
"We won't be opening it up to non-religious speakers," said Claire
Rainford. "It's a distinctive, long-running slot on a mainly secular news
program."
Rainford said the BBC broadcasts 110 hours of religious programming on
television and 500 hours on domestic radio each year, and that there were no
plans to either increase or decrease religious-themed broadcasting.
"We think we've got the balance just about right," she said.
"These are on a broad range of subjects, and you don't necessarily have to
have particular religious beliefs to be interested in many of the
programs."
The BBC, Britain's main public broadcasting organization, is supported mainly
by fees paid by British television viewers.