Islam should be treated more sensitively by the media than Christianity, according to the director general of the BBC.
By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:39PM BST 15 Oct 2008
Mark Thompson claimed that because Muslims are a religious minority in Britain and also often from ethnic minorities, their faith should be given different coverage to that of more established groups.
His comments come after the comedian Ben Elton accused the BBC of being scared of making jokes about Islam, while Hindus have claimed it favours Muslims over other religions.
But Mr Thompson, speaking at the annual public theology lecture of the religion think-tank Theos, insisted the state broadcaster would show programmes that criticised Islam if they were of sufficient quality.
The director general, whose corporation faced accusations of blasphemy from Christians after it allowed the transmission of the musical Jerry Springer -The Opera, also said his Christian beliefs guided his judgments and disclosed that he had never watched the Monty Python film Life of Brian which satirises the story of Jesus.
In his speech last night, Mr Thompson claimed there are now more programmes about religion on BBC television and radio than there have been in recent decades, whereas coverage has declined on ITV.
But asked whether it was correct that the BBC "let vicar gags pass but not imam gags", as Elton claimed, he admitted it did take a different approach to Islam, which has 1.6million followers in Britain, compared to its approach to the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.
Mr Thompson said: "My view is that there is a difference between the position of Christianity, which I believe should be central to the BBC's religion coverage and widely respected and followed.
"What Christian identity feels like it is about to the broad population is a little bit different to people for whom their religion is also associated with an ethnic identity which has not been fully integrated.
"There's no reason why any religion should be immune from discussion, but I don't want to say that all religions are the same. To be a minority I think puts a slightly different outlook on it."
However he pointed out that he had commissioned the comedy series Goodness Gracious Me, which he claimed had made fun of many religions, and claimed the BBC had shown more of the controversial Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed than other newspapers and television channels had done.
Earlier this year Mr Thompson had warned of a "growing nervousness about discussion about Islam" and said no debate about religion should be censored.
Mr Thompson said the broadcast of Jerry Springer - The Opera, which features Jesus as a talk show guest who admits to being "a bit gay", had been the most controversial programme he had dealt with during his time at the corporation.
"No political issue has so far come near Jerry Springer in terms of anger and emotion. It wasn't politics that put a security guard outside my house, it was a debate about how the BBC handles religion."
However despite the storm over the programme, Mr Thompson, a practising Catholic, said his beliefs do play a part in the editorial judgments he makes and disclosed that he dislikes watching shows about the Bible.
"I've never seen Life of Brian," Mr Thompson said. "I've taken a personal choice very seldom to watch programmes that have depictions of Jesus.
"I'm very sensitive about depictions of the Gospel story."
He also dismissed the idea that television is a "wellspring or accelerant" of immorality in society, and also that the BBC gives too much weight to the secular ideals of science or employs "moral relativism" when covering contentious issues such as medical ethics.
Mr Thompson defended programmes that have been accused of promoting selfishness or nastiness, such as The Apprentice and The Weakest Link, claiming that viewers know they are only entertainment and do not ape the behaviour shown on them.
He said that programmes such as EastEnders and The Archers deal with the consequences of people's actions, even when they cover controversial topics, and claimed even science-fiction series such as Doctor Who have a moral backbone.
"Doctor Who is not just about Daleks and Cybermen, it is about mothers and families and friendships," he said.
However Mr Thompson did admit the corporation had given over too much coverage last month of the launch of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.
"I must say that by the end of that week, even for those of us who share my love of the Higgs-Boson, there did seem to be an awful lot of it on the air."
A BBC spokesman said Mr Thompson did not mean Islam should be given preferential treatment, just that all religions are different.
He said: "People should look at his actual comments rather than trying to infer additional meaning that isn't there. What Mark Thompson said is that all religions are not the same - he did not say Islam, or indeed any faith, should be treated more sensitively than Christianity. In fact he made it crystal clear that no religion should be regarded as off limits for the BBC."
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