And so is the presence of the film on a station that has little original prime-time programming.
The film was produced by communications companies that work predominantly for the GOP and was financed by an ambassador who served in the Bush administration.
Two of the film's producers, the Stevens and Schriefer Group and Red October Productions, boast on their websites that they helped turn New Jersey from blue to red with the campaign of Gov. Christie and produced the keynote video at the 2004 GOP convention.
To accompany the airing, the station planned a live panel discussion for Thursday hosted by the Lancaster philanthropist and former ambassador Marilyn Ware.
The panel, almost identical to one that accompanied the film's premiere in November at the National Press Club in Washington, was canceled; the station is considering revisiting it in the fall.
The decision to scrap the panel came in the second week in June, according to a publicist for the film, and followed a protest by retired psychology professor Curtis Thomsen of Doylestown, a member of the station's Mercury Society Silver Circle, open to those who donate at least $2,500 annually. Thomsen vowed to cut off his contributions and write the station out of a $200,000 bequest in his will, and he sent a mass e-mail to other WHYY supporters decrying a "Republican Takeover of WHYY."
Art Ellis, WHYY executive director of communications and brand management, said the decision was based on low response and not on any outcry.
Thomsen also called on the station to cancel the film.
