Updated 5:15 p.m. (See the full statement from MPB Executive Director Judy Lewis in comments below.)
Mississippi Public Broadcasting's decision to pull the nationally-syndicated show "Fresh Air" from its radio schedule is drawing fire. This morning, media blog Gawker linked to a July 13 blog post by Fred Hammond, a Unitarian Universalist minister in Alabama, in which Hammond criticized the move.
"One of the beauties of public radio is that it will air shows that commercial radio is too scared to air," Hammond wrote. "It will offer a point of view that challenges us to think about life in new and unique ways."
Hammond quoted a July 12 e-mail from MPB Radio Director Kevin Farrell in which Farrell informed a listener, "MPB no longer airs this program ("Fresh Air") due to recurring inappropriate content."
The Huffington Post and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow have also joined in the criticism of MPB.
In a second post on the Rachel Maddow Show blog, Laura Conaway reported that MPB pulled the program after a complaint about host Terry Gross' July 7 interview with comedian Louis C.K.
"Mississippi Public Broadcasting shares a campus with offices for the state's colleges and universities, and we have learned that some of those offices play public radio for callers who are on hold," Conaway wrote. "Recently, a caller got put on hold during Fresh Air and heard Terry Gross ask comedian Louis C.K. if he always has sex with his shirt on. The caller complained, the station's zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate conduct kicked in, and away went Terry Gross and 'Fresh Air' for Mississippi."
This afternoon MPB released a statement from Executive Director Judy Lewis defending the decision: "Mississippi Public Broadcasting strives to deliver educational, informative, and meaningful content to its listeners. After careful consideration and review we have determined that Fresh Air does not meet this goal over time. Too often Fresh Air's interviews include gratuitous discussions on issues of an explicit sexual nature. We believe that most of these discussions do not contribute to or meaningfully enhance serious-minded public discourse on sexual issues."
Despite the statement's reference to "careful consideration and review," the cancellation appears to have been a prompt decision. The Jackson Free Press has obtained another e-mail Farrell sent to staff at 1:33 p.m. on July 8--less than 24 hours after the July 7 Louis C.K. interview aired--announcing that MPB was pulling the show immediately "due to content issues with the program."
A call to MPB executive director Judy Lewis was referred to the communications office. An MPB spokeswoman returned the call after the release of Lewis' statement but offered no further comment.
Other recent program topics for "Fresh Air" include, a July 8 program featuring an interview with filmmaker Lisa Cholodenko, whose new independent film, "The Kids Are Alright," features a lesbian couple portrayed by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. The program also saw Gross interviewing journalist Joel Achenbach about the nation's electricity grid. On July 7, in addition to Gross' interview with Louis C.K., the show featured a review of author David Mitchell's latest novel. The previous day, Gross talked to former national Poet Laureate Billy Collins about poet Emily Dickinson.
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