Church argues for keeping ban on TV appeals

A move to lift the ban against on-air appeals to fund television programmehas been opposed by the Church of England, which says that viewers could bexploited, particularly over religious programmes. In a submission to an OFCOconsultation, the Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, the Churcs communications spokesman, said there was "some discomfort within the Churchover the proposed change.The submission argues that television appeals using emotive or misleadinlanguage and images have a potential for exploiting viewers' sensitivities. Thcurrent ban applies to television, but not radio; the C of E submission saythat these different rules are justified. It also advocates the use of othefund-raising methods, which are less likely to exploit viewers or damageditorial independenc