BBC bias against atheists

The BBC has received an official complaint from the British Humanist Association regarding the biased reporting of a poll commissioned by the BBC Religious Affairs Dept by the BBC Religious Correspondent, Robert Piggot.

Report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7906595.stm

BHA Complaint
http://www.humanism.org.uk/_uploads/documents/1BHA-complaint-about-reporting-on-bbc-site.pdf

That an organisation like the BBC should have a Religious Affairs Dept gives pause for thought. As a news organisation it is reasonable that they should have a religious correspondent who objectively reports news. Rather it is a propaganda department used to promote a religious message at the expense of a secular one. Just imagine if the BBC had a LibDem Dept or a Hamas Dept rather than politically neutral correspondents!

The Director General and the Controller of Radio 4 both wear their religion on their sleeve and have demonstrated contempt for the non religious voice as the recent complaints over Radio 4’s Thought for the Day exemplify. More than 500 complaints and not a word of apology or justification as to why the Humanist voice is denied access to this programme.

The BBC has a public service remit at the heart of all its operations and that demands scrupulous objectivity. And yet the BBC reports secularism and atheism as if it were a fringe cult, using terms like militant atheist for anyone who challenges the privileges enjoyed by religion in the UK.

The BBC is charged with blatant discrimination that would not be tolerated if on any other area of public debate. The top management of the BBC foster this inequity because some of them are active members of faith groups. This is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue and will be constantly challenged until the BBC ends this discrimination.