MPB Cancels ‘Fresh Air’ for ‘Inappropriate Content’

This is not about the gays or conservative criticisms. I suggest we dig a little deeper. It might help to speak to ex-MPB employees. There are more than a few that could help us understand the roots of the problem.

The employees of our *public* radio station need to stand up. It's not just MPB's reputation... This "theory" has gone viral. Our state is, once again, being painted as a bigoted state with NO factual evidence to back it. Correlation does not equal causation.

I hope the JFP will investigate this a little more.. I also hope the rest of the country is as interested in the real reason vs the hyperbolic theory Gawker re-posted. The theory is juicy, but holds little-to-no water based on several emails I've received.

Climb higher.

What's going on here? Programs like Fresh Air are the reason alot of people (including myself) support MPB financially every year... They offer fair-minded content aimed not at stirring up emotions, but enlightening and allowing people to make up their own minds on issues...

Thanks for following up on this JFP...

Here's the jist... The "reason" is now clear.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/07/15/4684985-louis-ck-gets-terry-gross-fresh-air-run-out-of-mississippi?threadId=1014674&commentId=15614482

I still suggest there's more.

Knol, Ward has been on the phone all afternoon on it. If this was indeed the reason, I have two words for MPB: Grow. Up.

Just in: (Verbatim) Statement from MPB Executive Director, Dr. Judith Lewis, regarding removal of Fresh Air from MPB Think Radio schedule:

Mississippi Public Broadcasting “First, we want to thank all of our listeners who have provided us feedback regarding our decision to remove Fresh Air from our programming lineup. Your feedback is important to us and we hear you. We hope you understand – if not agree with – our perspective.

“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. Our listeners who wish to hear Fresh Air may find it online.”

I just deleted MPB from the #1 spot on my car stereo. It's a rather sad moment because I listen to MPB more than I listen to my own iPod.

I'm listening to WJSU as I type. How can *anyone* decide that "Fresh Air" isn't meaningful content? Does MPB want to contribute to the state's brain drain? This does nothing to help recruitment of educated professionals. Remarkable.

The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will be no rerun brothers, the revolution will be live!

The revolution won't be on MPB...maybe banjo music?

I am appalled in a way I can't explain. I hadn't planned on giving a huge contribution to MPB but they won't get a dime of my money. I didn't give any money last year when they pulled Fresh Air without any explanation. Any contribution I make will go the NPR. Mark my words, they'll pull This American Life next. In the meantime, there's always the Fresh Air Podcast.

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=7060034

MPB insiders have confirmed that Executive Director Judy Lewis made the call to cut "Fresh Air," indicating that it indeed was a fast decision, as the timeline Ward reports above implies.

We will add Ms. Lewis' comments if and when she returns calls.

"Speaking of Faith" also does a great podcast, all:

http://www.speakingoffaith.org

"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."

Wait, I was going to make fun of this guy, but then I just realized I'm ordained as a Universalist minister too. It took about 5 minutes online.

When I think radio, I don't think MPB. At least not anymore.

Although I didn't always love every edition of Fresh Air, I was frequently enlightened and entertained by it. With this latest debacle,I now have no reason to contribute (or even listen) to MPB.

I have a habit of listening to and reading work from those I may not always agree with. (I'm not an atheist, but I follow one on Twitter and watch Bill Maher.) Many aren't that intellectually free.

This reminds me of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."

Welll Welllll Welllll.....

Zero-tolerance policies. Gotta love'em. More regulation=more problems.

But please, please. Continue to vote the way you do. Maybe through censorship we'll achieve freedom of speech.

I feel sorry for anyone who quits listening to MPB solely because of this wee setback. They offer a diverse selection of shows to enjoy especially if you are into gardening, cars, witty game shows, new age music, etc. Just turn on Kaz's show instead, right?

ugh. I fear for MPB. Woe is me. Woe, is me.

Wait, I was going to make fun of this guy, but then I just realized I'm ordained as a Universalist minister too. It took about 5 minutes online - Drummin

Just to clarify, the Unitarian Universalist denomination is different from the Universalists. The ministers in UU (Unitarian Universalist) congregations go to seminary and in my experience also have knowledge of history and US social justice movements, among other things. Some links:

UU Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1616409692&ref=ts#!/TheUUA?ref=ts

UUA (National organization): http://www.uua.org/homepage/index.shtml

The blog for Rev Fred Hammond: http://serenityhome.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/mpb-and-fresh-air-closure/

just another reason i love having satellite radio

Some random comments I gleaned from AOL.com about this story (Note: The comments below do not reflect the opinions or views of Sir DrumminD21311):

I love Louis. I have been to Mississippi and they have made the state the sorry state it is. There greatest culture died with the mound building indians and has gone downhill since-Dave

The funny thing about Mississippi is that you can marry your sister or cousin there,have sex with a farm animal ,all legal,but you cant curse on the radio.Another thing is that 80% of the people that live there can't spell Mississippi-trmnatr2

yup. ima tell yew wut. dat dare mississippissippissippi iz shore
a heckuva place. shoot hell far...its like yesterday weez 50th in
the preevenshunna rickets. now weez 49th! woooooooo hooooooo. ima
tell yew wut.
(signed)
X i dun made muh mark-FatCat JRG

Oh my god, he has sex with his shirt on! Ban him forever. Hell, I didn't even know radio waves had made it to Mississippi yet.-Terry

Yeah, I'm sure it's ok to have sex in Mississippi with a hood on, just not a t shirt.-Terry

Speak for yourself B52DRVR,I live in misasipi and I have a herd of the most butifill sheeps and me and my sister has a diffrent momma,so its ok by the sherf and revrind .-elreyleon1962

Sigh.

Is it just me or is it very cowardly (possibly even chickensh|t) of MPB to not announce this on their local programming or on their website?

Anyway, I sent an e-mail to the programming address asking them to remove my wife and I from their membership rolls and mailing lists. I also said no donations go to them until Fresh Air returns.

BTW, the comments do not work in IE 7 and keep generating errors. Might want to get your technical people on it.

Just read about this this morning, and looked at the Gawker and Maddow sites and the comments - the pent up attitudes toward Mississippi are just being let loose on this. It's embarrassing to live in the state where PUBLIC radio gets censored - but it's even more of a blow to see what it does to the state's image. I moved here six years ago and am still sensitive to outsider comments, maybe I'll get used to it. They often show a strong pre-judgment, and actions like MPB's just add fuel to that.

This is a case of an organization go to the extreme instead of taking a measured approach. If the issue was that someone heard something offensive while on hold at the University then why not just have the University stop using the MPB feed as the "on-hold music"? Problem solved.

MPB already pulled This American Life from their lineup once years ago. I had just sent a donation specifically because they aired that show--a fact I made clear to them. Right after the fundraiser they stopped airing it. They must have gotten more complaints from people who loved the show than the few who were offended but for some reason couldn't find the "off" button because they brought it back.

Now one of the most informed and informative interviewers in the nation is no longer available to us because someone complained that they heard something about (shhhhhh) s-e-x.

It seems MPB's Executive Director has a very different definition than I do of "explicit." I've never heard anything in the hundreds of times I have listened to that show that I would define as "of an explicit sexual nature."

Needless to say, MPB won't get another dime from me until they get an Executive Director that is willing to suggest that people can turn it off if they don't like it--or complain to the people who use it as "hold music" rather than the broadcaster. And I will follow her advice and listen online--and contribute directly to NPR. Who needs MPB anyway?

now there's even a Facebook page in protest,
I just stumbled across from some other link

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Im-Banning-Myself-From-Mississippi-Public-Radio/135353966498927?ref=ts