Christianity is consistently underrepresented in mainstream media, with the majority of coverage giving excessive weight to negative stories, according to a new report.
The Christianity in Media 2025 report, commissioned by Christian media group Jersey Road, highlights a gap in faith reporting – despite a growing wave of interest in spirituality meaning the UK is increasingly hungry for faith-based news.
Researcher Harry Lunt analysed over 5,000 stories from the UK’s most widely-read outlets, across a year. Where faith was mentioned, the most popular denominations were the Catholic Church, which appeared in 1,247 stories, and the Church of England, mentioned in 846 stories.
Over a third of stories reflected Christianity in a negative light, whilst 23 per cent were positive and 44 per cent were neutral.
Launching the research, pastor Nims Obunge MBE shared his experience of the tabloid press steering clear of religion.
“I spoke to a significant tabloid paper…and [they] said: ‘Look, bad news sells better than good news.’ In essence, what he was saying was, when they report negative stories, things that are not the [true] Christian story, people don't buy that news.”
Drawing on recent reports of revival across the UK, he said: "There is something about the heartbeat and the conscience of the nation… we need to do better to inject that good news.”
He continued: “God's prophetic Word will ultimately have the final say. And when that happens, there'll be cultural renewal… we won't feel shy or ashamed to talk about our faith. It will be centre stage.”
The study also highlighted that despite more than 380 million Christians worldwide facing persecution for their faith, stories about Christian persecution made up just two per cent of UK media coverage.
Timothy Cho is a Christian who was born in North Korea before escaping the nation. Having lived under a regime where the media was closely controlled, he is passionate about faith being reflected in the content we consume: “When persecution happens, it’s a crime against humanity – that’s huge. It’s so important to report. This is not just about Christianity – persecution is persecution.
“I really want to encourage reporters,” Cho told Premier Christian News. “Dictators have the same pattern, whether they come from the political left or right – they try to stop freedom of expression and religion.”
However, the most popular category of faith-based story was that of personal faith, such as sportspeople like Adam Peaty sharing how their faith inspires them.
The report cites reality stars, such as Married at First Sight celebrity Sacha Jones, crediting Christianity for helping her get over a break-up, and footballer Antoine Semenyo telling the BBC that his conversations with a pastor on the touchline improved his mentality.
Gareth Russell, CEO of Jersey Road, said: “Our founding motivation was that the public narrative around Christianity – often influenced by the media – was narrow and stereotyped.
“The report shows some of these concerns are justified and that the full picture of the lived reality of Christians and the impact they are having in the UK is often under-reported.
“But there is also good news – literally. The UK media and public love human interest stories, and the number one theme in Christian coverage is personal stories of faith and the positive impact it’s had on their lives.”