"According to a spokesman, over the past five years, PBS has aired 58 hours of programming from Burns and 74 hours of projects by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., an Afr

"According to a spokesman, over the past five years, PBS has aired 58 hours of programming from Burns and 74 hours of projects by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., an African American scholar, director, executive producer and host of programs like The Black Church and Finding Your Roots." So the data doesn't back up the narrative in the letter and it seems to leave out Lynn Novick which has co-produced/co-directed the majority of Burn's films. All of American Experience's episodes in season 33's so far (the current season) have been about Black Americans or women. The majority of Independent Len's episodes in season 22 (the current season) have been about BIPOC's or women. All of American Masters episodes in season 35 (the current season) so far have been about Black and White women. If anything the data indicates that PBS is an exemplar of the kind of commitment to diversity of points of view the letters authors are advocating for.