Postcard to PBS

PBS President Pat Mitchell claims that pulling the lesbian moms episode of “Postcards From Buster” was a necessary move to protect sensitive local markets [“At PBS, a Fragile State of Balance,” by Lynn Smith, Feb. 14]. This cynical sidestep is disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst. Local PBS programmers can, and do, opt out of national programming quite frequently when, in their estimation, a program is not suited to local viewers’ tastes.

If New Orleans or Biloxi felt the “Buster” episode was unsuitable for their audiences, they needed only to schedule an alternative program. Los Angeles, on the other hand, is home to hundreds of families parented by same-sex couples (including mine) and should have had the option of reflecting the experience back to their young viewers.

Banning the episode wasn’t a gesture of sensitivity; it was pandering to the prevailing power structure. So much for the independence of public television.

Jason Lyon

Los Angeles