Dorothy Rowe

Critical understanding of religion vital, says TV Producer While institutional religion is in decline in Britain, the diversification of faith in this country and the massive global impact of religion means that it is an appropriate subject for thoughtful TV programming. That is the view of Jeremy Dear, executive producer at Pioneer Productions, whose six-part Christianity: A History series continues on Channel 4 on Sundays at 7pm. "In the last five years, programmes about religion on the terrestrial channels have never been more prominent," says Dear in an article in the Independent newspaper - contradicting those lobby groups that say it is being marginalised. On the other hand, Dear also disputes the generalised claims of some hard-line secularists that programming about religion is automatically 'propaganda' and should be excluded from scheduling. He declares: "In the wake of September 11 [broadcasters have] woken up to the fact that not everyone shares a post-Enlightenment, rationalist view of the world. For billions of people, faith is still very much a 'live' issue and if we're to understand the world, it's critical that we understand the beliefs that those people espouse." The key word, he believes is 'critical' - which means probing and understanding,…

BBC's expensive religious affairs department accused of misrepresentation Read the full article on the National Secular Society website.

BBC sorry for 'misquoting' expert's viewsEdited broadcast was 'opposite' of original view By Jamie Doward, home affairs editor Published in The Observer, Sunday 11 January 2009 The BBC has been forced to apologise to an acclaimed psychologist and writer after editing her derogatory comments about religion so that a radio programme broadcast "the opposite" of what she had said. Dorothy Rowe complained to the corporation that her interview on the Radio 2 programme What Do You Believe? had been so heavily edited that the final version misrepresented her views. During a 50-minute recorded interview, Rowe, best known for her work on depression, had attempted to comment on the subject proposed by the programme's producer: "Why so many people want to believe in God and search for faith." But she was aghast to hear how her words were eventually used. In an email to the corporation, published on her website, Rowe stated: "My words were edited to make it sound that I held a favourable opinion of religion in that it gave a structure to a person's life. What was not broadcast was what I had said about how such structures can be damaging to people. Being misquoted in this way…