When will the censorship end?

Albuquerque, NM PBS station KNME has pulled the plug at the last minute on a schedule airing of Unlocking the Mystery of Life (UMOL) the documentary detailing pioneering scientific research behind intelligent design theory. Read the full press release here.

Apparently KNME doesn’t realize that dozens of PBS stations have already shown UMOL and that PBS national website sells the video.

Local scientist Phil Robinson has been urging the station to air UMOL for months. They recently agreed, and yesterday he was surprised to find out by accident that the show had been yanked from the schedule.

The show was scheduled and listed in the local TV listings. The station even developed an ad for the program to be run all this week in Albuquerque newspapers. And, here’s the blurb right from KNME’s website as of this morning:

“9:00 PM Unlocking The Mystery Of Life

Unlocking the Mystery of Life explores what DNA and the inner workings of the cell reveal about the origin of life. Fifty years ago, Watson and Crick discovered that the DNA molecule carries hereditary information in the form of code that scientists have likened to computer software or written language. Unlocking addresses a question that this discovery left unanswered: Where did this genetic information come from? How did the software in the cell arise? A growing number of scientists now think that DNA and the complexity of life point to purpose and design in nature. This documentary tells their story. TVG”

There is a national debate going on about how to teach evolution, and about the role of intelligent design theory and people want to know what the issues are. Unfortunately, New Mexico residents won’t get the chance because KNME has banned the show. One wonders why the station has suddenly decided to censor science.

Please contact KNME’s program director Chad Davis and ask him why his station is censoring science — (505) 277-3296, cdavis@knme.org.