In the past several days, two individuals - each of whom is a highly respected and admired member of the community in this area - have volunteered to me their opinion of WGSR Star 39: the television station "serving" the market around Reidsville, North Carolina.
The first person said that WGSR is an "embarrassment" and that it "makes the people here look dumb".
The second person was more precise in their assessment: that WGSR general manager Charles Roark is not a serious broadcaster, that he is only out for "tabloid television" and that Reidsville's television station never tolerated such "nuts like Johnny Robertson" when it was operating as WAEU Channel 14 several years ago.
I agree, one hunnerd percent. WAEU had a much more professional operation than what has transpired under the "leadership" of Charles Roark. And a man as evil as cult leader Johnny Robertson would never have been allowed the airtime on WAEU. Back then, the station practiced civic responsibility. To have let Robertson and his self-described "Church of Christ" cabal use the station's facilities would have been like letting David Koresh broadcast for four hours a week just because he had enough money. And I've no doubt that if Koresh were alive and active in this area, that Charles Roark would sell him airtime.
But anyhoo, back to Johnny Robertson (who a number of people have also told me that I wasn't wrong in comparing him to Jim Jones a few days ago)...
I happened to catch Robertson's broadcast at 10 p.m. last night on WGSR. The highlight of the show was Robertson's son out harassing people going into churches with a camcorder, calling himself a "reporter" with an outfit called the "Religious Review Multimedia Group".
First of all, there is no such thing as "Religious Review Multimedia". It's something that Johnny Robertson pulled out of his own butt, just to add an air of legitimacy to his twisted activities. And second, his son is a horrible reporter (but I guess he's working for WGSR in a sense, so that jibes). From my understanding, this is a fifteen-year old kid that Robertson is sending out to do this kind of stuff.
But as it turns out, exploiting pre-adults is something that Johnny Robertson is rather fond of.
This blogger received some information not long ago and has been working to confirm it. The Knight Shift can now report that Johnny Robertson, of the "Martinsville Church of Christ" in Martinsville, Virginia, has been handing out twenty dollar bills to the children of his congregation. But this isn't money he's giving out of the goodness of his heart. No folks: Robertson has been passing out the bills to the kids, with orders to confront fellow students and even teachers in the schools that they attend. The instructions to the "Church of Christ" cult's youth are: "if you can prove that your denomination is in the Bible, I will give you twenty dollars." Just as Robertson has publicly offered thousands of dollars on live television to anyone who can offer biblical evidence of denominations.
(Personally, I think that the seven churches described in the Book of Revelation correspond precisely with denominations as we understand them today. But I'm not holding my breath for Robertson to make good on his offer...)
It's already been well established that neither Johnny Robertson's "Martinsville Church of Christ", or the "Reidsville Church of Christ" that his henchman James Oldfield runs, is financially self-sufficient. That Robertson is being funded by the proverbial "mysterious Texans" out west.
This is what all his donors in Texas give money to support? I mean, Robertson and Oldfield complain all the time that other churches and preachers don't care about the Bible... yet they spend their entire time not only not talking about the Bible, but instead condemning those churches and preachers. And now, Robertson is apparently using that same funding to send children out to harass others?
Once again I have to ask: how is this demonstrating Christ's love and grace to a lost and dying world?
No wonder so many people laugh at Christianity.
(But a lot of people are also laughing at Johnny Robertson and Charles Roark...)
30 comments:
This is why his show, "What Does the Bible Say?" is such a serious misnomer - last night he spent much more time talking about what HE says and what these other preachers say than what the Bible says.
(Did he really send his son out to film the reaction of people to the "homosexual jewish antichrist" remark? Oh. My. Gosh. This man has way too much time on his hands.)
If he actually used his four hours a week of TV time sharing what the Bible says rather than tearing down his neighbors, he might actually be successful in increasing his tribe.
Note: I used the word "might".
You have to admit one thing. He does a good job keeping you guys tuned in. HA HA
Truth be known, last night was the first time in two months that I watched The Illiterate One (that's my nickname for Robertson, since his online postings make absolutely no sense and come across more as the mad ravings of a lunatic).
Or I could call him for what Johnny Robertson really is...
"Unregenerate Reprobate East Texas Trailer Trash"
The only reason he is where he is, is because he's a dupe of more wealthy cultists further west. He is an unlearned, uncouth individual who is not to be feared. Laughed at, yes. And from the looks of things online, a lot more people are standing up to him.
I've got more important things to do with my time now. But I do keep an eye on the cult from time to time and have some "sources" feeding me info.
I also wondered in recent weeks why WGSR allows this man on the air. Then I figured he was probably just looked at as another source of revenue for the station, and that might explain it. If, so, that type of values lacking concerns me. Also, it seems Monday Night Live was better back in the TV14 days, no disrespect to the hosts who also hosted the show back then, as they are great guys. I think it all reflects on management and the quality they want to produce. WGSR could be so much better if it wanted to be, in my opinion. And not so many re-runs, over and over, of segments that oftentimes were not that great to begin with. But it has crossed my train of thought, wondering why some continue to work for the station whom I know cannot relate to Johnny Robertson. I would have to speak up to my boss about airing the man's broadcasts. Maybe some have done so. Maybe to no avail. I just see nothing Christ-like in the man who claims to be a Pastor. Way too much angst and self-righteousness, bordering on, if not outright, dislike of others...VERY condescending. I suggest he pray for some self-esteem and some self-respect. Because his lack of both is quite obvious, in an almost self-loathing way...He dost protesteth too much. A true man of peace would not have to do so. Johnny, just Be, for a change...not blather. Amen.
How irritating is the idea that he is reproducing? This article mentions a son who is apparently following in his father's footsteps (someone really needs to talk to that boy) and children going to school with his 20 dollar bill in pockets.
Sounds like Fred Phelps' racket, without the lady with bad teeth.
THE CONTRACT
Charles Roark’s version of the Contract
Charles says: Take Johnny Robertson I know he’s very controversial and people hate him. But I’ll tell you one thing about Johnny there’s no phony to him. I don’t like him sometimes but you know I will tell you the one thing I do like about Johnny is that he is not phony. He is who he is. Well I mean he’ll tell you I mean he’ll tell you I want all your churches off the air. I mean he’ll tell me that you know you know when nobody else would probably never tell me that. Because he thinks that they are wrong.I mean but in other words I have to respect him for at least telling me his agenda. And then I tell him if that’s your agenda we are going to have to sign a contract that says you can’t go after those guys individually and I’ve done that. So you know and he didn’t like that and he told me he didn’t like it but he’s willing to go along with it for now because you know this is one of the only places that will let him voice his opinion. And then come the critics saying Charles is the only one that will let somebody like Johnny Robertson voice his opinion. But I think these people have forgot this is America
Johnny Robertson’s version of the Contract
Johnny says:
Well see all these people who are on this station you wonder why I don’t get into it with the people on this station because they are in a contract that forbids them from mentioning my name. It’s not that I can’t mention their name I can mention anybody’s name I want to out there. They have been forbidden to mention my name directly because they know the person who owns this station they have actually admitted . I have Charles Roark actually pointing out to Chris Knight how this contract works. If these other guys mention my name then I can come around and begin to talk about them particularly and their doctrine specifically. And so they have been forbidden to mention me unless they end up quitting running off and hiding somewhere. So you see you heard the other night an individual called in and who did they call for did they call God strike Johnny dead. No they called Charles, Charles Johnny is talking mentioning my name. Charles he’s not suppose to mention me Charles stop him from mentioning my name.
An individual called into the Johnny show prior to this and told Johnny not to call her name. She said she was off limits. Johnny began repeating her name as Jessica Griffith, Jessica Griffith, Jessica Griffith. He told her she was not off limits. She said she was going to take it further? He told her to call Charles.
Chris should be running Star 39. Its known all over town that Charles fired him because Chris's commercials were unbelievably better than any shit Charles Roark makes and Charles got jealous. Chris would make Star 39 a respectible tv like Channel 14 was and not let mental cases like Johnny Robertson on air.
"Breaking News"
The People of Reidsville N.C were TALKING & ACTING DUMB long before WGSR came to Town.
Why do You think Reidsville N.C has always been know a "THE RED NECK CAPITAL OF NORTH CAROLINA"
"And second, his son is a horrible reporter (but I guess he's working for WGSR in a sense, so that jibes)"
Great way of cutting everybody else that works there to the quick, Chris. I realize you're saying that Johnny's son is a horrible reporter, but then you sling out the he's working for WGSR, so you lump everybody there as one, that they're all bad. So you're mad at Charles, but to really make sure you lay the hurt on, you slam all the others there too just to make your point.
Really classy. I have a feeling that if you had any friends left there at all, this latest post by you probably killed that.
Hurt words mean more when you use them against your enemies instead of spreading them with a crop duster.
Think about it.
?!?!?!????
Robertson's son wasn't even pretending to be an objective journalist. It doesn't matter if he uses "Religious Review" or "Fox News" or "The Christian Science Monitor" or whatever other pretense strikes his fancy. Robertson the Younger was behaving just as confrontational and thuggish as his father. Anybody would be right to call The Illiterate One and his kid out on their lack of journalistic ethics.
And so far as the idea that I'm harboring resentment goes: that's a good one. I don't see how anybody can be bitter when a thing that most would say is bad, turns out to be used for good. Parse that as you will...
"But it has crossed my train of thought, wondering why some continue to work for the station whom I know cannot relate to Johnny Robertson."
I wonder the same thing. I've quit at least 10 jobs because I didn't like the religious beliefs of fellow employees or custoners.
Anybody who works at that station is a Johnny Robertson dupe. If they had a shred of respect for the community, they would quit immediately like Chris did and start blogging about the evils of WGSR.
For the good of the community, the FCC should pull the station's license to shut Johnny and Charles up.
Bravo, Chris Knight! Keep up the good work.
never believe anything that johnny robertson says. he is a lying son of a bitch.
I have always wondered why Reidsville town officials allowed the TV station in the first place considering Charles Roark is a convicted felon.
Recently at a city council meeting a woman was asking the city manager if he had not been fired from all his jobs. She was directing words such as embezzlement toward him which seemed to be accusations? There was talk of a petition to fire him. This is a little scary to me.
"I have always wondered why Reidsville town officials allowed the TV station in the first place considering Charles Roark is a convicted felon."
Because there is no legal power to do so and you'd better pray that not Reidsville or any other government gets that power at all. Trying to stop Roark that way would be a bigtime violation of the First Amendment.
We don't want something like that happening. If you want to go after Roark and Robertson, do it in the free market arena of ideas. We know that both Roark and Robertson are convicted criminals. We know that they enjoy hurting others for their own selfish sake. Based on what I heard just this past week, most people in this area consider WGSR to be a joke because of Roark's mismanagement and Robertson is, as I have said before, illiterate trailer trash who would be nowhere without Shawn Paden and other cultists in Texas and elswhere footing his bill.
We don't need and shouldn't want government going after "the bad guys" when we can hang them on their own petard instead.
I wonder why Charles Roark has never asked Johnny Roberson about the other Church of Christ Churches they do not fellowship with?
Since they are out to expose discord in the churches isn't the discord they have themselves news we should be hearing about?
Or could it be that its all about the money yet again?
Sorry to see your discussions have reached beyond reason.
It takes more than your words to kill a friendship.
Ol' You-Know-Who
Did anyone notice how the camera seems to be hanging from the arm to try and look like it is turned off?
I'm gonna address something here, ahead of something else that I might be addressing soon...
There are good people at WGSR. And I've never meant anything I write here to be a blanket condemnation of everyone there. There are a number of people there that I absolutely consider to be good friends with.
That said, how WGSR is managed and how WAEU was run, is as different as night and day.
Charles Roark is fixated on cheap, petty "Jerry Springer"-style television. In doing so he has made WGSR neglectful of its place as a station serving a relatively small community. WAEU understood its place, and made the best of its resources. The result was a top-quality television station.
But under Roark's management, most of his broadcasting is about penny-ante things that he tries to blow up into situations that are less than what he insinuates they are. I remember over the summer when he was involved in a common fender-bender with another person, and the very first thing he did was whip out his video camera and try to insinuate that the person who hit him "had something to hide"... which was ridiculous.
Roark tries to push buttons and play with people's emotions in order to bring the television that suits HIM, not the area. And it's regrettable that there are folks who are working at WGSR who deserve the opportunity to be working for a better manager.
"For the good of the community, the FCC should pull the station's license to shut Johnny and Charles up."
"I have always wondered why Reidsville town officials allowed the TV station in the first place considering Charles Roark is a convicted felon."
A couple of posters above made these statements above which I find extremely disturbing.
Should we shut everybody up or shut them down when we don't agree with what they say? So you don't like something that Bob Buckley (Fox-8) says...so the FCC should "pull their license" to shut him up? You don't like something that the News & Record prints..we should shut them down? You don't like something that Richard Moore prints in the Neely Chronicle (let's go back to the Ron Price case as a prime example)..then we should shut him down?
Go back to the days when W.R. Hearst tried to stop the movie "Citizen Kane" (which was very loosly based on his life) from being shown in movie theaters..his threats to ruin the movie theaters that showed it, the newspapers that ran the ads, Welles, etc. He wanted to use his power to shut it down but it didn't work..and thank God it didn't.
Or for those that doesn't like what Chris says on his blog, should the government or the city or the county or even Johnny or Charles have the magic power to flip a switch and shut him up?
And just like Chris said, the city, county, state or anyone else can't shut somebody down to shut them up. You people wondering why the city doesn't intervene..are you serious? I mean, are you really serious?
It boggles my mind how people think. Maybe some of these people posting these idiotic comments should go back and take refresher courses in how the government works and what your rights are and the rights of others. Either you didn't pay attention the first time or you need to go back and take some serious refresher courses in how YOUR government works. It appears that ignornace is rampant.
And to the individual that said he/she quit at least 10 jobs because of disagreements with coworkers or customers religious beliefs..better get a job working from home so you can avoid everybody. You're no better than Johnny Robertson if you really believe that, I mean, isn't his premise that his religion is the ONLY religion..and everybody else is bound for Hell? Is that your thinking too..whoever you are? You are always right in your thinking and everybody else is totally wrong? If so, you're one sad individual.
Chris, I don't agree with everything you say, sometimes I disagree with you totally, but thank God we have the right to disagree without people pulling plugs or trying to shut us down. And I'm glad you know how the governemt works unlike some others who post here.
It's the government's (local and federal) job to protect the communty from subversive elements like Johnny R. and Charles R. Chris can't do it all by himself. The airwaves belong to the people, not to nut jobs like Johnny and Charles.
Ron Price shut up Richard Moore so why can't somebody do something about WGSR? The FCC and the city need to step in and do something about that station.
James Festerman could stop it if he wanted to. That's what zoning ordinances are for to keep out the riff-raff. Charles kisses Festerman's butt to keep the station on the air.
And I say again, go back and learn the authority of the government. It is well beyond obvious you haven't got a clue. If you did, you would know that Festerman and city government have no more control over WGSR than you or I.
The tv station was there long before Festerman was mayor.
Your control is as close as your fingertips. Its called a remote control.
Oh, and about the comment that it is the governments responsiility to protect the people from subverssive elements, I can recall another that thought hat very same thing..protect the good people from the bad element of society.
His name was Hitler...Adolph Hitler.
He thought the Jews were subversive too. That's why millions of them died, so he could rid society of the bad element poisoning his society..and those that didn't agree with his way of thinking, to shut his ememies up.
Some of you people are scary.
These Kids that Post on Here don't know anything about The Government - Local Or Federal---
They Probably are High School Dropouts as Reidsville has the Highest Number in The State--Non believers Google It...They know how to sit at Home & Play Video Games.And The Idiot that quit 10 Jobs because He didn't like The Religious Beliefs of His Co-Workes and Customers probably doesn't know How to Play Video Games.
Why The Excessive Use of Caps?
I agree with the poster that reminded us that WE are the ones that control WSGR by our dollars and good sense. They have advertisers, don't they? If you people feel so strongly about them - go to the advertisers en masse, and communicate your feelings to them.
Otherwise, just talking about them in such tones just widens the fame of Rourk and his little station.
"It's the government's (local and federal) job to protect the communty from subversive elements like Johnny R. and Charles R. Chris can't do it all by himself."
Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa...
Have you any idea what the hell it is that you are suggesting?!
I do not want to live in a country where the people expect the government to protect them from "subversives".
Who the hell is it that gets to decide what is "subversive" thought and what isn't?
A lot of countries have gone down that road in history. Like France, f'rinstance. In the name of protecting the people and the country, Robespierre had thousands sent to the guillotine... and more often than not for the most innocuous of reasons. Pol Pot did much the same in Cambodia.
Do you seriously want the government to have that kind of power?
So far as the airwaves go, there is a due process that can be followed - if enough people wish to pursue it - that could see any broadcasting facility that is deemed a detriment to the community be shut down. If you want to do that, fine. But some of you have no idea what kind of trouble you're asking for by demanding "arbitrary justice" of the sort you're suggesting.
"They have advertisers, don't they? If you people feel so strongly about them - go to the advertisers en masse, and communicate your feelings to them."
Here! Here! If the government won't assume responsibilty for our protection, then let's get the advertisers to regulate WGSR.
Any time I learn an employee of a business holds beliefs that I don't agree with I immediately boycott the business and encourage others to do so. For example, after I met an Asst. WalMart manager who did not oppose abortion, I immediately stopped patronizing WalMart and told five others who also stopped going to WalMart.
"any broadcasting facility that is deemed a detriment to the community be shut down."
What's the procedure for doing this? Let's do it! And when we're done with WGSR, let's go after those Commies at CBS and ABC. I want to see some licenses yanked.
"Any time I learn an employee of a business holds beliefs that I don't agree with I immediately boycott the business and encourage others to do so. For example, after I met an Asst. WalMart manager who did not oppose abortion, I immediately stopped patronizing WalMart and told five others who also stopped going to WalMart."
That's just... stupid.
There's a difference between a company having a policy belief that you disagree with, and a singular employee having a policy belief that you disagree with.
What happens if you wound up severely injured and the doctor treating you is of a different religion or political party than what you subscribe to? Are you going to reject medical treatment and bleed to death because of it?!
Don't forget Fox and NBC....Shut them down too!!!!!!!
"What happens if you wound up severely injured and the doctor treating you is of a different religion or political party than what you subscribe to? Are you going to reject medical treatment and bleed to death because of it?!"
Yes.
Just like I am going to try to shut down WGSR because of Johnny Robertson's religious beliefs and Charles Roark's Jerry Springer style.
I know I could solve the whole problem by just turning off the TV, but that would not be bringing WGSR to justice and the community would be be still be victimized by the station.
I want to do something to protect the viewers who don't have enough sense to use their remote controls to banish Johnny and Charles. Isn't this the same reason you are on your crusade against Johnny and Charles?
I want to join your crusade, not just turn off the TV
I don't have to do anything more than report things as best I know how, via this blog.
Like I said before, there's a free market solution. And I'm more than content to let the free market take care of this sort of thing on its own.
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