My Gorram Frakking Blog

I recently sent this email to KTVU, a local Fox affiliate:

From: Rick Mann
Date: September 18, 2004 20:46:17 PDT
To: Lori.darnell@ktvu.com
Subject: I didn’t know KTVU was an evangelist TV station

I was dismayed to come across your programming this evening, a movie
called “Last Plane Out.” I only saw the last portion, but the
commercial break I saw contained nothing but Billy Graham
advertisements. The movie itself was an undisguised Christian sermon.

It seems somehow wrong for a public television station to broadcast
such a specific religious message, and worse, to promulgate the
deceptive and exploitative practices of something like the Graham
conglomerate. This was nothing but a two-hour advertisement for them,
helping them prey on the weak-minded viewer, no doubt raising millions
in the process.

Despite Republican’s and the religious right’s wishes the contrary
(and subsequent practice), the United States is a secular society,
with a clearly mandated separation between church and state.
Programming and advertising such as tonight’s is unwarranted and
unethical, and certainly irresponsible.

Given the general trend in Fox network programming (canceling
intelligent, well-written shows and promoting “reality” fodder), Fox’s
propagandistic, right-wing news, and now (what I assume to be locally
determined) religious programming, I think I will remove KTVU from my
channel lineup.