Journalism Programmes 1. White Fright SINGLE PROG. TX: 06/072018 Dur: 29’38” Broadcaster: The Guardian Production Company: The Guardian In 2015, the community of Islamberg discovered that a Tennessee minister was plotting the deadliest attack on US soil since 9/11 against their village. Why have Americans heard nothing about him, and why has the safety of this community been ignored? On 10 April 2015, the FBI quietly arrested Robert Doggart, a white, 63-year-old Christian minister, after they discovered he was plotting an attack against Islamberg, a small African American Muslim community in upstate New York. Inspired by claims on Fox News that the community was a terrorist training camp, Doggart discussed firebombing a mosque and a school in the village, and using assault rifles and a machete to murder the residents. No terrorism charges were brought against Doggart. No national news outlets covered his arrest, and one month after he was taken into custody, a judge released him on bail. As Doggart's case went before an all-white jury, White Fright examined the US’s inconsistent system of national security, the media’s role in exacerbating terrorist threats, and the failure to protect vulnerable communities from racist attacks. 2. Gangs, Drill & Prayer SINGLE PROG. TX: 14/05/18 Dur: 42’00” Broadcaster: BBC iPlayer / 1Xtra Youtube Production Company: BBC How young Christians are using rap & drill music to lure gang members away from streets & towards God. We join Enrique on his extraordinary journey from south London gangster rapper, to Pastor at just 21 years old. We meet the artists whose music is reaching out to youths & inspiring change, artists like Hope Dealers, who spit holy bars over the hardest of beats, drill. These movements, however, do not come without controversy; wearing balaclavas in church, accusations of being a cult & the large sums of money involved, have prompted some to question their holy intentions. 3. The Climate and the Cross SINGLE PROG. TX: 20/04/2018 Dur: 23’01” Broadcaster: The Guardian Production Company: The Guardian An internal battle is simmering among US Christians over whether climate change is a call to protect the Earth, the work of God to be welcomed, or does not exist at all. Evangelicals have traditionally been the bedrock of conservative politics in the US, including on climate change. But a heated debate is taking pace across the country, with some Christians protesting in the name of protecting the Earth, seeing it as a duty to be done in God's name. One group has even built a chapel in the way of a pipeline and a radical pastor has encouraged his congregation to put themselves in the way of the diggers. Meanwhile, a firm supporter of Donald Trump criss-crosses the country promoting solar power. But there is still the traditional resistance – a climate scientist who denies the world is warming and a preacher in Florida who sees the fact he was flooded as a good sign of divine presence. With stories from across the country featuring pastors and churchgoers, and showing conflict between generations, races and classes, could it be a surprising section of Christian Americans who could provide hope for the country's attitude to climate change? 4. Mountain of Fire and Miracles SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 22/03/2018 Dur: 25’38” Broadcaster: Game of Our Lives podcast Production Company: Al Jazeera / Jetty Studios Episode description: One of the top teams in Nigeria is Mountain of Fire and Miracles FC, a Pentecostal club in Lagos. It’s a team that provides stability for its players within the fraught world of Nigerian domestic football — and also represents the country on the global stage. “Someone is sick, we all pray and fast,” says church sporting director Godwin Enakhena. “There is a deal that’s coming, we fast and pray about it, and say ‘God help this young man get this deal.’” On this episode, Enakhena and David Goldblatt discuss his team’s remarkable rise from amateur youth club to elite team, the challenges facing Nigerian domestic clubs, and the rules that keep MFM FC on track. Show description: Game of Our Lives is a podcast about understanding the world through its most popular sport: football. Host David Goldblatt welcomes a diverse range of guests for conversations about politics, culture, economics, immigration, religion, cinema—and of course, some all-time favorite goals. Host bio: David Goldblatt is a sociologist, journalist, and author. He is best known for his books The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football and The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football, a definitive social, political, and sporting history of the global game. 5. Playing the Game, Wearing Hijab SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 29/03/2018 Dur: 25’36” Broadcaster: Game of Our Lives podcast Production Company: Al Jazeera / Jetty Studios Episode description: All Shireen Ahmed wanted to do was play — but college officials kept her off the pitch because she wanted to wear her headscarf, or hijab. On this episode of Game of Our Lives, the player, advocate, and coach talks about her fight to get back on the field, what football means in the global South, and the day FIFA lifted its ban on religious head covers. Show description: Game of Our Lives is a podcast about understanding the world through its most popular sport: football. Host David Goldblatt welcomes a diverse range of guests for conversations about politics, culture, economics, immigration, religion, cinema—and of course, some all-time favorite goals. Host bio: David Goldblatt is a sociologist, journalist, and author. He is best known for his books The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football and The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football, a definitive social, political, and sporting history of the global game. 6. Crossing Continents: Shades of Jewish in Israel SINGLE PROG. TX: 17/05/2018 Dur: 27’43” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC Radio Current Affairs Israel gives all Jews the right to citizenship - but has it become less welcoming to African Jews? Since its founding in 1948, after the horrors of the Holocaust, Israel has seen itself as a safe haven for Jews from anywhere in the world to come to escape persecution. But now that policy is under threat. As Jewish communities in Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya are finding, a debate has arisen about who is "Jewish enough" to qualify. David Baker investigates claims that decisions are being made not on the basis of ancestry or religious observance but on the colour of people's skin. Producer: Simon Maybin Presenter: David Baker 7. An Irish Solution – a Would You Believe? SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 17/05/2018 Dur: 54’20” Broadcaster: RTÉ One Production Company: RTÉ Programme Synopsis (300 words max) In May 2018, the Irish Government called a referendum that went to the heart of the often conflicting ethical values underpinning that society. The 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution gave equal status to the lives of the unborn and the women who bear them, effectively outlawing abortion, unless the mother's life was itself demonstrably endangered. As a consequence, 3000 Irish women each year were choosing to travel abroad for abortions; others were procuring abortion drugs illegally and unsafely online. The Government promised to legislate for abortion, but had, first, to secure a popular mandate to repeal the 8th Amendment. A week before the referendum, RTÉ's longest-running and much respected documentary series, Would You Believe?, aired a special programme, exploring what was at stake in the referendum and what moral considerations might influence its outcome. With remarkable sensitivity, clear- sightedness and journalistic rigour, award-winning Reporter Mick Peelo and Producer/Director Birthe Tonseth captured views and opinions from right across the spectrum. They looked beyond the hysteria of black-and-white slogans and posters and persuaded people on all sides of the debate to explore the moral grey areas, sharing with remarkable courage and candour their personal stories and the principles behind the noisy public lobbies. Uniquely, the documentary earned praise from all sides for the fairness and clarity with which it informed a vote that was, for everyone in Ireland, literally, a matter of life and death. 8. The Economist asks: Bishop Michael Curry SINGLE EPISODE from a longer series or strand TX: 27/09/2018 Dur: 22’34” Broadcaster: The Economist Production Company: The Economist Radio podcasts In this programme, Anne McElvoy, our host, interviewed the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the first black presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church about the invitation to speak at the Royal wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and the response to his sermon in St George’s Chapel in Windsor and around the world. Bishop Curry explains what a silent ‘Amen’, with the eyes, looks like. Will he be invited back for a Royal baptism? They also discussed his views on the role of religion in a divided America and the split between the Episcopal and Anglican church over same-sex marriage. Anne asks Bishop Curry whether President Donald Trump acts in good faith and how effective Curry’s prayer vigils were. Anne and Bishop Curry met face to face in New York where she asked challenging questions - would Bishop Curry pray for a different outcome in the next US Election - and Bishop Curry implored Anne to ‘stay with me sister!’. The Economist asks is our flagship interview show, published every Thursday, which features a 20-30 minute conversation with a high profile guest - including Alan Greenspan, General McChrystal, Francis Fukuyama, Tony Blair, Madeleine Albright, James Comey, Kai Fu Lee, Sarah Rafferty and Hillary Clinton.