Top BBC journalist to talk at London church service

A number one BBC journalist will share insights gained while covering the war in Ukraine during a poignant remembrance service in London on the evening of 11 November.

James Waterhouse, the BBC News Ukraine correspondent, will give the keynote address on the annual Journalists’ Service, being held at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street. 

The service, under the title ‘Conflict and Calling’ will, say the organisers, “honour the stress at the center of journalism – where the risks of truth-telling meet the deep sense of vocation that drives it.”

It can even “invite reflection on the courage, sacrifice, and moral conviction of those whose work often exacts an ideal personal cost.”

Also participating within the service – held annually on the church often called ‘the Journalists’ Church – can be Fiona O’Brien, UK director of the charity Reporters without Borders.

The organisation says that 53 journalists or media employees have been killed the world over this 12 months, with 547 detained. 

Their World Press Freedom index monitors journalists’ freedom to report across the globe and indicates that “conditions for journalism are poor in half the world’s countries.”

The index places Norway, Estonia and the Netherlands as the highest three countries for press freedom, with the UK in twentieth place, and the United States at 57th place. 

Reporters without Borders warns, “At a time when press freedom is experiencing a worrying decline in lots of parts of the world, a significant — yet often underestimated — factor is seriously weakening the media: economic pressure. 

“Much of that is as a result of ownership concentration, pressure from advertisers and financial backers, and public aid that’s restricted, absent or allocated in an opaque manner.”

The church service comes as trust in mainstream journalism is declining, and lots of persons are turning to social media and online ‘influencers’ for his or her news and commentaries. In the UK, the US and lots of other developed countries, there are ‘news deserts’ where communities haven’t any source of reliable local media coverage.

Against this gloomy background, many media organisations are searching for to distinguish themselves from other sources of reports, mentioning the standards of journalism under which they operate – and the risks their reporters face.

The London service will remember the various journalists and other media employees who’ve been killed while reporting from around the globe, including in conflict zones like Ukraine and Gaza.

Prominent at St Bride’s is the church’s Journalists’ Altar. A candle burns on the altar to recollect in prayer those working inside the media who’ve died, been injured, held hostage, or whose fate is unknown.

Keynote speaker James Waterhouse was appointed the BBC News Ukraine correspondent in June 2022, after reporting as Kyiv correspondent through the outbreak of the war. He spent five years as an expert rugby union player before turning to journalism, and reports for radio, TV and online, including featuring as a daily presenter on the BBC’s ‘Ukrainecast’ podcast.

The remembrance service can be led by Canon Dr Alison Joyce, Rector of St Bride’s, with music performed by the renowned St Bride’s Choir. A retiring collection can be shared between Reporters Without Borders and St Bride’s Church.

St Bride’s has produced a prayer for journalists:

Almighty God,strengthen and direct, we pray,the need of all whose work it’s to write down what many read,and to talk where many listen.May we be daring in confronting evil and injustice,and compassionate in our understanding of human weakness,rejecting alike the half-truth that deceives, and the slanted word that corrupts.May the facility that’s ours, for good or ailing,all the time be used with respect and integrity;in order that when all here has been written, said, and done,we may, unashamed, meet Thee nose to nose,through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

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