My open letter to WTTW
Mar. 1st, 2012 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_archfiendI've had a considering bug up my ass (lovely image, that) about some of the pseudoscience and medical woo that makes the rounds on PBS programming in general (and WTTW in particular) during pledge drives, so I decided to give them a piece of my mind, such as it is.
Without any further ado, my cranky little letter to the station follows. And it wasn't written in even written in crayon, either. Imagine that.
Good evening:
I recently received a letter soliciting funds from you and would like to give you a reason as to why I would not be willing to become a subscriber at the current time.
Although currently unemployed, I would have been completely willing to contribute if it were not for your poor choice of pledge drive programming. In the past - and in this upcoming pledge drive as well - you have given exceedingly large chunks of your programming time to promoters of pseudoscience and medical quackery such as Deepak Chopra, Gary Null, Mark Hyman, Daniel Amen and others. Considering that you also air quality programming such as _Nova_ and _Nature_, I have to seriously wonder if you ever look into the supposed qualifications of these hucksters.
It seems contradictory that a station supposedly devoted to educational and news programming would somehow allow people to broadcast glorified informercials promoting one form of quackery or another merely becuause your station feels the need to attract attention to your fundraising efforts regardless of the method used. Such a strategy seems rather defeatist considering what your stated purpose is as a public television station.
If you think I'm alone in this sentiment, feel free to read the following article by Dr. Robert Burton, (link provided below) which you may or may not be familiar with. I would also like to point out that I would _gladly_ contribute to WTTW if you changed your policies concerning this segment of your programming, but as for now I cannot do so.
Thank you for your time.
Chris Krolczyk
(The Burton article in question can be found here)
(Also on Lurker)
Without any further ado, my cranky little letter to the station follows. And it wasn't written in even written in crayon, either. Imagine that.
Good evening:
I recently received a letter soliciting funds from you and would like to give you a reason as to why I would not be willing to become a subscriber at the current time.
Although currently unemployed, I would have been completely willing to contribute if it were not for your poor choice of pledge drive programming. In the past - and in this upcoming pledge drive as well - you have given exceedingly large chunks of your programming time to promoters of pseudoscience and medical quackery such as Deepak Chopra, Gary Null, Mark Hyman, Daniel Amen and others. Considering that you also air quality programming such as _Nova_ and _Nature_, I have to seriously wonder if you ever look into the supposed qualifications of these hucksters.
It seems contradictory that a station supposedly devoted to educational and news programming would somehow allow people to broadcast glorified informercials promoting one form of quackery or another merely becuause your station feels the need to attract attention to your fundraising efforts regardless of the method used. Such a strategy seems rather defeatist considering what your stated purpose is as a public television station.
If you think I'm alone in this sentiment, feel free to read the following article by Dr. Robert Burton, (link provided below) which you may or may not be familiar with. I would also like to point out that I would _gladly_ contribute to WTTW if you changed your policies concerning this segment of your programming, but as for now I cannot do so.
Thank you for your time.
Chris Krolczyk
(The Burton article in question can be found here)
(Also on Lurker)
