The Religion Media Centre - Creating Connections

Michael Wakelin is former Head of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC and now Executive Chair of the Religion Media Centre.  In this blog, Michael shares how the centre is bringing all faiths and the media closer together.

One of the reasons I am proud to be a Methodist is the way the Church is often ahead of the curve in terms of theological developments – we at least try to see where the “fiery cloudy pillar” is leading and are not too weighed down with bureaucracy and nay-sayers. One of these areas is inter faith where we have a good track record and have been at the forefront of some initiatives. So, it was with a certain degree of optimism that I approached the authorities wanting to secure some minimal funding to support a project organised by the Religion Media Centre called “Creating Connections”, which visits cities around the country and brings together local faith groups with local media.

It has been surprisingly easy to sell the idea and secure funding (mainly from the Culham St Gabriel Trust and the Saltley Foundation as well as the Methodist Church) because the need was so obvious. Through our connections with faith groups and journalists we had heard that both parties were feeling out of touch with each other. Faith groups were frustrated that they never had coverage from local journalists and local journalists were frustrated that they couldn’t talk to the faith groups – each side blaming the other. “They don’t understand religion” v “they don’t trust us.” So we thought - why not bring them together? 

In 2021 we set up events in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Plymouth and Nottingham and they proved successful with 97% of faith groups saying they felt much happier approaching the media and 87% of the journalists saying they felt much happier talking to faith groups.

This year our visits have taken us to Bradford, Coventry, Newcastle, Liverpool, Bristol and Norwich. Although each city is unique, there is a common desire to work together and forge better understanding and more in-depth media coverage. The timing of the project is particularly appropriate as the BBC and other content producers are scaling back their commitment to local journalism. Specifically, the BBC has cut back its Sunday morning religious programmes by a third. There were 39 Sunday breakfast shows focussed on faith – there are now just 13 with, for example, Radio Norfolk’s Sunday show now rolled up with Radio Cambridgeshire and Radio Suffolk and others and broadcasting from Dunstable.

With news providers like Reach PLC and Newsquest, who publish most of the local papers around the country, similarly scaling back, there is an emerging phenomenon being labelled “the fifth estate” or putting it another way the rise of “the parish magazine”. We are all broadcasters now, and, with encouragement and some media training, local communities – including religious ones, can create their own content, tell their own stories and publish them as widely as they like. These are in turn picked up by the larger broadcasters and used as vital source material for bulletins and publications. (I have recently been asked by the Manchester District to do some media training for Superintendent ministers as a lead up to the district’s Media Sunday on February 4^th 2024.)

One common thread to all the events we organise is a focus on young people and this is confirming what we already suspected, that young people don’t turn to traditional media for their source of news. Generation X,Y and Z are far more likely to hear what’s going on in the world from TikTok and “X” rather than the likes of Clive Myrie or Jeremy Bowen. My daughter (21) assures me that they can spot “fake news” but it is a worry that zero editorial care will gradually hi-jack the truth and then where will we be?

Each of our events pivots around our media panel of local/regional editors and reporters who explain what makes a good story and how they can be contacted. The key message seems to be relationships – build up a rapport with individuals in the media so that trust can build up on both sides. A press release with the interesting detail on page 4, landing in to an already over full in box, is not going to cut through. One editor in Newcastle said he has more than 200 emails waiting for him every morning – so advice on how to sell ideas and attract attention is gratefully received.

But perhaps the most important thing we do is achieved by the simple fact of having the, for example, editor of BBC Northwest Tonight or the Executive editor of the Eastern Daily Press actually present in the room. This starts to demystify the “media” and shows that journalists are just regular people trying to do their job.

For more details of the Creating Connections Project please visit: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/events/

Michael Wakelin is a former Head of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC and now Executive Chair of the Religion Media Centre, an Executive Producer at TBI Media and a Founding Partner of the Religion and Belief Literacy Partnership.

The Religion Media Centre is an independent resource to help journalists, and others to cover religion.