The number of British universities offering single-honours Theology and Religious Studies degrees in UK universities has fallen to just 21, driven by financial pressures and falling student demand. Departments have been closed, merged, and subject to redundancies.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, our panel explored why students studying A-level Religious Studies often choose not to continue the subject at university, and what institutions can do to make courses more attractive. Decisions to close departments, we heard, were driven by business plans rather than increased secularisation at board level. Meanwhile, religious groups are establishing their own colleges offering degree-level courses, shifting provision away from mainstream universities.

Theos Think Tank has warned of the consequences, publishing an open letter stressing the importance of religious education in higher education. It argues that young people need the tools to navigate a diverse society and grapple with ethical challenges.

Our panel of academics and teachers discussed the scale of the problem, as well as how changes to course content and better communication of its value might help turn things around. Speakers include:

• Dr Tim Hutchings, TRS-UK, Nottingham University 
• Prof Matthew Guest, Durham University
• Dr Suzanne Owen, BASR, Leeds University 
• Dr Roberto Catello, Liverpool Hope University
• Prof Chris Higgins, former vice chancellor, Durham University
• Prof Gordon Lynch, Edinburgh University
• Sarah Lane Cawte, chair RE Council
• Deborah Weston, NATRE

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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Muslims in the UK feel hugely under-represented in the media, and research suggests almost 60 per cent of all articles are negative, according to speakers at the Religion Media Festival’s panel discussion on “Muslims in Britain”. Burhan Wazir, editor-in-chief of Hyphen Online, told the audience that the vast majority of stories tend to look at Muslims from a security or Islamophobia point of view, but there was a much more nuanced conversation to be had about access to healthcare, education and how Muslims live their lives.

The panel was chaired by BBC investigative journalist Poonam Taneja, and other panellists were Rizwana Hamid, director of the Centre for Media Monitoring; Akeela Ahmed, co-chair of the British Muslim Network; and Dr Azim Ahmed, deputy director at the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, at Cardiff University.

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

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X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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A panel discussion on British Media and British Jews considered how the war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, had impacted coverage of the community in Britain. There have been reports on rising antisemitism and divisions within the Jewish community itself, with 36 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews objecting to its stance on Gaza and making this public. A survey by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research found high community support for Israel but far less so for Binyamin Netanyahu’s government.

The discussion was chaired by Richard Allen Greene, CNN’s Jerusalem Bureau chief at the time of the 7 October attack, and now in London training to be a rabbi. Panellists were: Jonathan Boyd, Executive Director, Institute for Jewish Policy Research; Rabbi Charley Baginsky, co-lead of Progressive Judaism; Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews; and Jenni Frazer, journalist and commentator.

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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The media landscape is changing at speed, and in this panel, millennials who are talking about religion in podcasts, film and online, explained why and how they do it. They said their audience wants to ask questions in a safe space and that millennials (currently aged 29 – 44) accept that society is pluralist. They all grew up and went to school with people of all faiths, so it was ridiculous not to take faith seriously. Their audience is not just brought in through knowledge-seeking, or rational argument, but through stories and feeling that the media was relatable. Hosted by TV producer Jessie Paktiazay, the guests were:

• Swarzy Shire, BBC 1Xtra presenter
• Indy and Dr Jaz, Sikh content creators with a weekly Desi podcast
• Islah Abdur-Rahman, Muslim founder of The Corner Shop Network creating viral clips
• Lamorna Ash, award-winning author of “Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever – a new generation’s search for religion”
• Daisy Scalchi, BBC commissioning editor, specialist factual

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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There aren’t that many reporters who specialise in reporting religion in the UK, but their diary has been overflowing in the past year. There are religious angles to all the main stories of today – the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the riots in the summer of 2024, and the needs of people in poverty helped by people of faith. The religious organisations themselves have been making headlines with the first resignation of an Archbishop of Canterbury, the death of one Pope and the election of another, and multiple sex abuse stories and cover-ups.

Many of the journalists, whose work is to reflect this world to people of all faiths and none, took part in a panel discussion on how they do their jobs. Rosie Dawson chaired, with guests:

• Christopher Lamb, CCN Vatican Correspondent
• Catherine Pepinster, author and journalist
• Francis Martin, Church Times
• Kaya Burgess, Religious Affairs Correspondent and Science Reporter at The Times
• Maira Butt, RMC specialist reporter on Islam

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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When Labour swept to power in July 2024, it promised to work with faith leaders in a programme of national renewal. Soon after, summer riots across Britain, after the murder of three girls in Southport, revealed a breakdown in social cohesion and tested community relations. One year on, a panel at the Religion Media Festival discussed what had happened since, and how community was being rebuilt and maintained across Britain.

Editors spoke of how they had reported on communities coming together to clean up town centres, and their efforts to rebuild trust and tackle fake media. Faith leaders wanted to see what practical measures journalists had to rebuild trust, to report on faith group initiatives locally and to encourage young people in plans for the future. The faith minister’s adviser, Lord Russell Rook, said there was much work to be done to unlock the power of faith in local communities. No one group could do this alone; what was needed was an "ecosystem" of organisations.

Leo Devine chaired this panel with guests:

• Gary Newby, news editor at ITV News Central
• Yakub Qureshi, democracy editor at Reach plc
• Manjit Kaur, co-chair Coventry and Warwickshire SACREs
• Rabbi Warren Elf, MBE, co-chair of Faith Network for Manchester
• Professor Adeela Shafi, founder of the Bristol Muslim Strategic Leadership Group and commissioner for race equality in Bristol

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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(+44) 0203 970 0709

Football and religion have a lot in common; in fact, according to Dal Darroch, head of diversity and inclusion programmes at the Football Association, they are inextricably linked.

In a presentation to the Religion Media Festival, he explained how they both give a sense of purpose, identity and belonging. The FA is, he said, trying to inspire positive change through football, ensuring equal opportunities, ending discrimination, and encouraging community support at the grassroots level.

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

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(+44) 0203 970 0709

Sir Mark Thompson, chief executive of CNN and former director-general of the BBC, told the Religion Media Festival that religion is important for journalists to understand and report well, not least because the overwhelming majority of people in the world have some level of commitment to it.

A committed Catholic, he found religion “intriguing and fascinating”, but not everyone in the media business agreed. Interviewed by the BBC’s home editor, Mark Easton, he said religion plays a much bigger part in American life than in Britain, and more often, it’s woven into political discussion. The fact that really serious, powerful political figures in the United States are trying to advance a broad cultural or political point by getting involved in particular questions of doctrine, was a good example of why journalists should take it seriously.

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709

The Religion Media Festival 2025 opened with an interview by Roger Bolton with Channel 4 journalist Cathy Newman, who exposed the scandal of serial abuser John Smyth and the Church of England’s cover-up.

She spoke of the way she got the incredible story of Smyth’s ‘barbaric’ abuse, her editor’s immediate response to investigate, and her impressions of Justin Welby - overwhelmed by events, who was forced to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury over his handling of the case. The interview is an insight into how Channel 4 pieced together the story and how the Church of England responded.

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

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(+44) 0203 970 0709

The Church of England General Synod has concluded its annual residential meeting in York, after a wide-ranging agenda on internal affairs, as well as issues affecting the country.

They heard from a Brigadier about the dangerous world and the need for the church to prepare for war and support the chaplains. The Archbishop of Jerusalem addressed the synod on the plight of people in Gaza and won two standing ovations. A synod debate on assisted dying showed an overwhelming number against, and another on a redress scheme for survivors of abuse was welcomed as a step forward in the church's recent story of scandals.

Internally, a bumper £1.36 billion funding package for dioceses over the next three years was agreed, along with a rise in clergy pay and pensions, and more money for low-income and deprived parishes. And in a striking moment, peace broke out in the sometimes hostile debate on same-sex marriage, with agreement to bin a 'pernicious' document on homosexuality from 34 years ago. Rosie Dawson hosted, with guests:

• Bishop Hugh Nelson, Bishop to the Armed Forces
• Jane Chevous, Director, Survivors Voices
• Bishop of Birkenhead, Julie Conalty
• Tim Wyatt, journalist
• Nathan Obokoh, youth leader
• Ven Stewart Fyfe, Archdeacon of West Cumberland
• Paul Waddell, lay representative from Southwark

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://x.com/RelMedCentre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

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(+44) 0203 970 0709