The Archbishop of York has urged the BBC to make ethnic and religious diversity a greater priority when attempting to reflect British communities in its broadcasting.
The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell made comments during an address at the Religion Media Festival in Westminster today.
The Church of England’s second most senior clergyman implored public service broadcasters such as the BBC to recognise how identity in modern Britain has shifted away from regional identity and toward religion and ethnicity.
He claimed representing communities through “presenters with a regional accent” was no longer effective at capturing how Britons truly define themselves today.
According to the archbishop, modern Britain functions as “a network of communities” where “many find their identity in ethnic origin and religious faith more than geographic location”.
He acknowledged that the UK remains “a family of nations” containing regions with distinct cultures but stressed how people sparingly associate with a town or city by comparison to other demographics.
“Public service broadcasting must improve at mirroring this change”, he argued.
He added: “Going forward, public service broadcasting needs to get better at reflecting this reality and, in particular, it needs to be given a much higher priority.”
The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell pleaded for safeguarding of religion in the media during an increasingly digital age
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The archbishop connected his argument to core Christian principles, citing values such as loving one’s neighbour, honesty, truth, kindness and penitence.
“These same values fuel so many of our institutions, even when that is not always immediately apparent,” he said.
He described these principles as essential for serving diverse communities and maintaining a healthy national broadcasting sector representative of the people.
Most Rev Stephen Cottrell claimed representation in television has for too long been merely understood as simply featuring presenters from different parts of the country.
The BBC has previously faced criticism for being overly focused on London and the South East, prompting its relocation of major departments to Salford between 2011 and 2012.
Beyond his comments on diversity, the Archbishop issued a stark warning about artificial intelligence and the spread of misinformation online.
He described “the rapid spread of disinformation or misinformation” as presenting “great risk”, with “very clever algorithms” pushing users towards “a narrow reinforcement of existing views rather than challenge or expose us to a wider or different perspectives”.
The archbishop called for robust regulation across all media platforms to ensure trustworthiness – without censoring free speech.
The BBC has previously faced criticism for being overly focused on London and the South East
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BBC“Lies and hatred, abuse and manipulation” must be challenged, he argued, with those responsible held accountable.
His concerns echo those of Dame Sarah Mullally, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who earlier this month warned of AI undermining human dignity.
The threat of misinformation prompted the Government to pass a ban on social media for those under 16 years of age in a bid to protect young people from growing online threats in a world without tough digital regulation.
Last week, the Government published the Media Green Paper, giving the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, 5 and others more flexibility to attract audiences online, transitioning to internet-based TV between 2034 and 2044.
It aims to make it easier for people to discover trusted news sources on social media, as part of wider reforms to protect the long-term future of the UK’s media ecosystem, including public service broadcasters.