On Labor Day the PBS program POV aired the award winning documentary After Tiller. The movie documents the lives of the four remaining late term abortion providers since the murder of Dr. George Tiller and the stories of several of their patients. Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Executive Directer Ronnie Agnew choose not to air it . In an interview with Cosmoplitian Mr. Agnew said he believed move would probably prove "truly alarming" to some Mississippians and citing his conservative viewership as a concern. We believe it is the right of the public to be informed on tough issues even if it does alarm them. In fact it's an important part of public discourse amongst adults. 

The national PBS mission statement says: 
 "PBS' mission is to create content that educate, informs and inspires. To do this, PBS offers programming that expands the minds of children, documentaries that up new worlds, non-commercialized news programs that keep citizens informed on world events and cultures and programs that expose America to the worlds of music, theater, dance and art."

It is our belief that in keeping with that mission MPB as an affiliate station should not censor programing from a a series it already airs due to perceived threats of viewer displeasure. 

This censorship of After Tiller sets a dangerous precedent. We deserve the right to decide what to watch with our remotes. Not have it chosen for us by Mr. Agnew only to be told "watch it online" (a hard task in Mississippi given internet access issues). 

We request that MPB air After Tiller in the next week. Once in the evening and once in the daytime as surrounding affilates have done. This gives people without internet and who would not have looked for the program but may indeed wish to watch it a chance to do so.  As well as simply allowing the MPB viewership to see the entire POV series as it was put together this season. This is in keeping with the tradition and mission of Public Television.