|TOP|The Bishop of Manchester has responded to the Government’s White Paper on the BBC with a call to fellow churchgoers to give their views on how faith communities should be reflected by the broadcasting corporation, reports Church Times.

The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch was one of the members of the House of Lords Select Committee on the BBC Charter which published its results earlier in the month.

A multi-faith panel chaired by the Bishop of Southwark, Dr Tom Butler, advised the Select Committee on concerns over religious broadcasting by the BBC which led to numerous recommendations by the Committee.

The Select Committee said in its report that the BBC should “make sure viewers and listeners have a better understanding of the different religions and other belief systems through the objective portrayal of their different beliefs, practices, and forms”.

|AD|It also admitted “concern” over coverage of stories related to world religions by the BBC, adding that it had to do more to ensure viewers and listeners were given the “background knowledge” they require.

Bishop McCulloch said on the release of the White Paper earlier this week: “I will be reinforcing the need for the faith communities' contribution to the life of our nation to be properly reflected across all BBC output when I respond to the White Paper.

“Anyone can respond: I encourage church people to consider doing so."

The White Paper also made recommendations on the future functions and structure of the BBC, among which were six new purposes which included “sustaining citizenship and civil society” and “reflecting the identity of the UK’s nations, regions, and communities”.