Kerger still rattled about ‘The War’

After a year on the hot seat as president and chief executive of the Public Broadcasting Service, Paula Kerger admitted this week that she was “still trembling” as she answered questions from reporters and critics.

She had this to say about the network’s most controversial issues:

* Ken Burns’ much-anticipated 14- or 15-hour (or 14 1/2 -hour) documentary, “The War,” is still being edited, but it will have three new stories from the Latino and Native American perspectives woven through it. Burns decided to make the changes after complaints from advocacy groups. But Kerger said that PBS would stand by its filmmakers, no matter what their decisions in similar situations. It will begin airing Sept. 23.

* “The War,” which has some curse words in it that the Federal Communications Commission might not like, will be edited for language. Local stations will be allowed to run an edited or unedited version.

* Oregon Public Broadcasting will release “Islam vs. Islamists,” a documentary that contends radical Islamists intimidate moderate Muslims around the world, and will distribute it to other stations. But PBS will not show it network-wide, Kerger said, unless the filmmaker agrees to make unspecified changes. The film was part of the “America at a Crossroads” project, most of which aired in the spring.

Kerger announced that a new animated series based on the National Public Radio show “Car Talk,” is set to air in the summer of 2008 and said that “African American Lives 2” will air in February.