Postcards from PBS Pat: See Ya

A little heat, and she's outta there.

Pat Mitchell, president of PBS and subject of this post earlier this week, has announced she's leaving PBS following criticism from affiliates and subscribers on her decision not to run a "Postcards from Buster" show featuring a lesbian couple.

Writing in today's WaPo, TV Column writer Lisa de Moraes gives Mitchell a chance to explain that Buster had nothing to do with her departure, scheduled for when her third term ends in 16 months, but details the difficulties PBS has promoting causes which are increasingly unpopular with mainstream America.

Stalwarts of bravery, PBS managers told Mitchell, according to a PBS spokesperson, "please don't put us in the position in which you feed the show to [PBS affiliates] and then they have to make the call in their communities" whether to air it.

WGBH Boston, which produced and ultimately aired the show says 85 percent of the mail they got supports the lesbian show, but they only released one to DeMoraes:

The [WGBH] rep forwarded one letter to The TV Column, which she said was from a Marine in Iraq thanking the station for providing copies of the episode to other PBS stations. "I don't fight for white, conservative, middle class, heterosexual Americans," the letter said. " . . . I fight so that all can enjoy our inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

If I were WGBH's PR guy, that's the letter I'd release too -- but I sure wouldn't present it as representative, which I'm certain it isn't.