Two ITV News teams held a Sikhism Awareness day last week to educate its journalists about the religion.

The day was hosted by news department and organised by reporter J. Singh-Sohal to introduce ITV journalists to Sikhism and inform them of the basics of the Sikh faith.

It was organised for journalists and technical staff from 2 ITV regional newsrooms - Thames Valley and Meridian. The pilot event comes after a successful Islam Awareness Day event was held last year.

The workshop also explored Sikh symbology central to the faith and held a special seminar on how Sikhs perceived themselves in media reporting.

Robin Britton, ITV Meridian Head of News told AIM magazine: “All of us who took part in the day came away with a much better understanding of the Sikh faith and community. ITV News have held Islamic Awareness sessions before and found them extremely useful too – but this was the first time we have brought members of the news editorial and technical teams together in a Gurdwara and set aside a day to find out about the Sikh population in the UK.”

“The historical overview combined with presentations on the articles of faith and having the opportunity to ask a wide range of questions not only about Sikhism but also how to find out what Sikhs think of regional and national news coverage was invaluable. We hope to arrange other sessions in the near future and make it a regular part of what we do with staff in our newsrooms. A better understanding and better news contacts all are key factors in developing a relevant news agenda that hopefully makes our output more appealing to the communities we cover.”

The event could be rolled out across other ITV News teams across UK’s regions in the future.

J. Singh-Sohal, ITV Thames Valley reporter, said: “Sikhs have historically played a very important role in Great Britain, so organising an event to give colleagues at ITV an opportunity to learn about and understand the Sikh faith and community was a privilege. We invited local speakers, including students from Oxford, volunteers from Reading and a local historian, so that the regional journalists attending could connect with Sikhs in the community they report about.”