Some of the most important stories in the UK Church are being overlooked and press coverage does not reflect the reality of the fast-changing and diverse UK church, according to a report commissioned by communications agency Jersey Road.
The Christianity in the News Media 2025 report shows a disproportionate focus on the Catholic Church, which is referenced in more than 1,200 (24%) stories. In contrast, the fast-growing Pentecostal church barely receives a mention - despite now representing 10 per cent of church attendance in the UK.
The analysis was carried out over a 12 month period, looking at more than 5,000 stories about Christianity from the UK's most widely accessed online media outlets. It also shows that despite more than 380 million Christians around the world suffering high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith, stories about Christian persecution are conspicuous by their absence, making up just two per cent of media coverage.
Gareth Russell, Jersey Road, CEO said: “For the past 15 years, Jersey Road has been pitching stories about Christian organisations to the media. 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.”
Key findings
While there were a significant number of topics covered in these stories, clear themes quickly emerged. Here are the top 10 themes, along with the number of stories in which they appeared:
1. Personal faith (1,635 stories)
2. Catholic Church (1,247 stories)
3. Church of England/ Anglican (846 stories)
4. Politics (816 stories)
5. Leadership (571 stories)
6. Public figures (500 stories)
7. Culture Wars (441 stories)
8. Abuse (417 stories)
9. America (400 stories)
10. Community engagement (390 stories)
The report also looked at the content of these stories and allocated sentiment according to the impression of Christianity portrayed by each article: positive, negative or neutral.
Overall sentiment of media reporting of Christianity
Positive 23%
Negative 33%
Neutral 44%
(1% unavailable)
Jersey Road has provided recommendations in the report on how Christian organisations and media can better engage and represent Christian communities and voices.
The report was launched at an event with UK church leaders and media hosted by Archbishop Angaelos, founder of Refcemi, the Coptic Orthodox Office for Advocacy and Public Policy.
Download your copy of the Christianity in the Media Report 2025 here.
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