Why religious and ethical broadcasting?

As advocates for excellence in broadcasting exploring belief and ethics, the Sandford St Martin Trust is committed to making the case for content that furthers people’s understanding of how faith – whether one’s a believer or not – affects the world around us.

Our Open Letter to the Times newspaper, published on 27 February 2024, urges the Government to amend the Media Bill to ensure religion remains a key component of the public service broadcasting remit; if you agree that religious literacy and understanding what people believe matter more than ever, you can lend your support to the #BeliefMatters campaign here. The Government’s Media Bill and proposed amends were the topic for discussion on recent episodes of All Things Considered with Sandford St Martin Trust Chair Dr Tony Stoller, and Roger Bolton’s Beeb Watch with Executive Director Anna McNamee – both available to listen online now.

Why does the quality of broadcasting and journalism about belief, faith or people’s ethical or moral view points matter anyway? Read our blog and hear what leading media and religious figures and previous award winners like Simon Schama, Jimmy McGovern, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Lyse Doucet think.  Or read the Trust’s submissions to Ofcom, the BBC Trust, The Future of TV inquiry and the House of Lords Communications Committee. 

The Sandford St Martin 2024 Awards

Finalists for the Sandford St Martin 2024 Awards.

For 46 years the Sandford St Martin Awards have celebrated broadcast content exploring religion, belief, spirituality and ethics and how people’s faith (or lack of faith) impacts on the world we live in.

This year’s shortlists across the four categories – TV/Video, Radio/Audio, Journalism and Young Audience have now been published.

Winners will be announced at a gala ceremony at Southwark Cathedral in June.

Follow us on social media @sandfordawards for more updates.

If you’re feeling inspired, the 2025 Awards competition will open for entries in November this year. To be eligible entries must have been first broadcast between 1 January and 31 December 2024 and have been publicly available to a UK audience.

You can find out more about this year’s criteria and categories here.

Outreach and events

Find out more on our Events page where you can listen to recordings of previous Sandford St Martin Media salons such as In Conversation with Edward Stourton, reflecting on 50 years of BBC Radio 4’s flagship religious affairs programme Sunday or Back to Burnley  a discussion about the impact of news reports from Burnley during the pandemic on of one of the nation’s most vulnerable communities. Or hear Heidi Thomas, speak about making the international hit television series “Call the Midwife”.

There’s more recordings and information about these and resources linked to our other projects such as “Why Black Media Matters”, “What 4? How will privatisation affect religious diversity at Channel 4?” and Broadcasting in the time of Corona: strategies for Journalists & Producers” here.

Find out more about the Sandford St Martin Awards by watching the overture to our most recent awards ceremony.

Support the work of the Sandford St Martin Trust