Religion Media Festival: Community relations and the media’s role

When Labour swept to power in July 2024, it promised to work with faith leaders in a programme of national renewal. Soon after, summer riots across Britain, after the murder of three girls in Southport, revealed a breakdown in social cohesion and tested community relations. One year on, a panel at the Religion Media Festival discussed what had happened since, and how community was being rebuilt and maintained across Britain.

Editors spoke of how they had reported on communities coming together to clean up town centres, and their efforts to rebuild trust and tackle fake media. Faith leaders wanted to see what practical measures journalists had to rebuild trust, to report on faith group initiatives locally and to encourage young people in plans for the future. The faith minister’s adviser, Lord Russell Rook, said there was much work to be done to unlock the power of faith in local communities. No one group could do this alone; what was needed was an "ecosystem" of organisations.

Leo Devine chaired this panel with guests:

• Gary Newby, news editor at ITV News Central
• Yakub Qureshi, democracy editor at Reach plc
• Manjit Kaur, co-chair Coventry and Warwickshire SACREs
• Rabbi Warren Elf, MBE, co-chair of Faith Network for Manchester
• Professor Adeela Shafi, founder of the Bristol Muslim Strategic Leadership Group and commissioner for race equality in Bristol

The Religion Media Festival, held at Methodist Central Hall, London, on Monday 9 June 2025, was organised by the Religion Media Centre. We are a charity which aims to help journalists report religion by providing daily news bulletins, background briefings, factsheets and opportunities to network.

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