I’m shocked, puzzled, offended and even embarrassed at how much gospel music programming WVPBS has been airing lately.
Isn’t WVPB still under authority of EBA? And what, exactly, is the educational value of Bill Gaither and a bunch of his gospel music friends or the Statler Brothers ?
And even though some of WVPB receives private donations from viewers and listeners, doesn’t most of WVPB’s operating revenue still come from taxpayers?
Not only does gospel music programming appeal to and promote just one religion, gospel music programming of this sort promotes and appeals to a subset within that one Christian religion while it offends and alienates and disenfranchises everyone not of that subset of the Christian religion.
And finally, I am embarrassed at what visitors to our state must think when, after a long day of travel or work they turn on the hotel TV, tune to a PBS station hoping to find NOVA or Frontline or one of PBS’s fine shows only to find the most public of public airwaves being used to promote hillbilly religion while offending and disenfranchising taxpayers who are not practitioners of that hillbilly religion.
