Four ways to vary how Christians are portrayed within the media

“Why do I never read any positive stories concerning the church within the media or in my newsfeed? All I appear to read are the negative headlines.” 

If I had a pound or a dollar for each time I’ve heard that remark in my a long time of communicating concerning the Church locally and nationally, I’d be a really wealthy man.

Now – finally – research has been published that shows a more balanced picture of how Christians are reported but in addition flags up the glaring gaps. 

Public relations firm Jersey Road worked with media monitoring agency Agility PR Solutions to discover and collate news articles from UK online media reports referring to Christianity, from December 2023 to November 2024, after which analysed the coverage. 

This showed that the negative coverage outweighed the positive, and that ‘traditional’ denominations got greater coverage than Pentecostal and other church streams. 

But there’s a key lesson coming out of the research that caught my experienced eye. It’s that the authors don’t moan or whinge concerning the findings – they set out practical ways in which the Church and Christians can improve the coverage they receive. 

These include:

Embracing the ability of non-public faith stories. “Media interest in personal faith presents invaluable opportunities for Christian organisations,” say the report’s authors. “Christianity also offers powerful stories of redemption, emotion, surprise and even humour and quirkiness, which all add news value – so there are lots of opportunities for Christians to vary the narrative.”

Christian organisations are encouraged to think about “developing a strategic partnership with public figures who can speak authentically and positively about their faith and Christian causes.”

Helping the media broaden the portrayal of the Church. Churches doing invaluable community work are encouraged to “proactively tell their stories, especially when linked to current social problems with public interest.” 

Coverage of newer expressions of church – corresponding to a church formed around browsing – or unusual ministries, corresponding to a wrestling pastor may also help change perceptions of Church life. These, says the report, “offer opportunities for churches to proactively capture media attention and help reshape public perceptions of Christianity.”

Being aware of risks in public representation. “While media engagement offers visibility, it also carries reputational risks,” is the report’s advice. “It’s necessary to concentrate on these and be smart and thoughtful, even when engaging with the media about stories that appear positive.”

Organisations and churches are encouraged to decide on their spokespeople rigorously, prepare them properly and pay attention to different media’s approach to reporting faith issues.

Leading with integrity and transparency. The media has exposed abuse and institutional failures inside churches and Christian organisations, and infrequently these groups respond, say the report’s authors, “with silence, obfuscation or attempted cover-ups.”

Instead, “they must be transparent in addressing abuse, acknowledge past failings with sincerity and take concrete actions to back up public apologies, showing a reputable commitment to vary.”

The report also sets out ‘recommendations for national journalists,’ including looking beyond traditional streams of church, avoiding pigeon-holing faith leaders right into a narrow set of subjects, and finding Christians who hold balanced or mainstream views, somewhat than in search of out the extremes.

Journalists are also urged not to disregard signs of non-public faith shown in the general public sphere – corresponding to Premier League footballers who raise their hands in prayer – but to report and explain what they see, and in addition to offer coverage to the tens of millions of Christians facing persecution world wide. 

This welcome, pioneering report resonates with my experience coping with a spread of media on behalf of the Church and Christian organisations. But there may be also an important role for the local church and other groups working on the grassroots. 

I’d encourage every church to discover someone with specific responsibility to construct links with the media – each the legacy ‘local papers’ still functioning and the growing variety of independent outlets bobbing up across the country. Don’t forget the local radio outlets – BBC, business and independent – that also win audiences.

Churches are essentially local organisations, so community-based media, including social media networks, must be key parts of our outreach and influence. Otherwise, we’re colluding with the media’s muted coverage of the Church’s major positive impact in society.

National denominations and large Christian organisations can achieve this much – but motivated local churches, in search of to win coverage on their doorsteps, could help transform how the Church is perceived across the country and beyond. There’s work to be done …

Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, and a former communications director with the CofE.