As a former staff member of the Washington, DC public broadcaster WETA, I’ve always been a supporter of the station. But in the last few years, the old familiar staff has given way to a more corporate culture. And the programming has taken a turn for the worse.
During pledge time, WETA now airs a slate of shows that can only be described as infomercials for quackery. Suspect hosts like Wayne Dyer preach long life, fewer wrinkles, and other nonsense, while shilling for pledge dollars. Even the great Randi has something to say about it:
Currently, my local PBS-TV stations are featuring both Dr. Wayne Dyer and Dr. Gary Null in their pledging period, to take advantage of the public’s taste for quackery. Both these men flaunt degrees, both deal in nonsense. Dyer makes incredibly naïve statements such as that if you just summon up enough determination, “anything is possible,” and Null prescribes magnets and other medieval tools to prevent aging. He preaches eternal youth. Now, Null is less than 60 years old, but I recognize dyed hair and make-up, and he looks much older even than I, a man who has 15 years on him. How could that be? My guess is that PBS’s most favored peddler of magic, King of Quacks Deepak Chopra, is busy elsewhere selling his nostrums and isn’t available to PBS this season.
I did not renew my WETA membership this year.
[Update: at 10pm tonight, Maryland Public Television is airing Frontline, a one hour documentary on the horrific genocide in Rwanda. On WETA? “Dr. Wayne Dyer: Power of Intention,” a FOUR hour infomercial. I’m disgusted.]
