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NBC News Chief Apologizes — Internally, Anyway — for Skipping 9/11 Memorial Moment

Sep 13, 2012  •  Post A Comment

NBC News President Steve Capus apologized for skipping a moment of silence in observation of the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in favor of a celebrity interview on "Today," reports Bill Carter in The New York Times. Capus issued the apology in a memo to executives at NBC affiliates.

The network stopped short of a public apology, sticking with its earlier position defending the decision.

In the message to affiliates, Capus noted that the stations had been criticized by many viewers for the decision, and apologized, the story notes.

As previously reported, NBC, which aired "Today" during the memorial, was the only top broadcaster that didn’t broadcast the moment of silence. Instead, the show aired an interview with Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner.

The network did not apologize on the air, the report notes, standing by a position it took Tuesday after the criticism began rolling in.

“NBC’s position on Tuesday had been that ‘Today’ did not routinely observe the 9/11 moment of silence, and in fact had included it only once — on the 10-year anniversary last year — since 2006,” the story reports.

The report adds: “One NBC executive, who did not want to be identified because the network was seeking to move past the incident, said that the memo to the affiliate executives did not represent a contradiction in NBC’s position on not apologizing for the decision.

“It was, rather, an effort to acknowledge that the stations had been subjected to criticism over a decision made by the network, the executive said, and that was what warranted the apology.”

One Comment

  1. Yet ANOTHER blackeye for the Peacock. And to add insult to the injury, look who was on at the time!
    Well, journalism, and a sense of History, not to mention a sensitivity to a moment in America, is continuing to be missing at the TODAY Show.
    Where’s the $25 Million Dollar host and his condemnation of the decision?
    Maybe someday TODAY will be back in the hands of news people…OK, I can dream, can’t I?
    Peter Bright

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