After ‘Today’ Criticism, NBC News Chief Apologies to Affiliates

From Bill Carter at NYTimes Decoder:

As it promised, NBC did not apologize on the air Wednesday for its decision not to observe a moment of silence during the “Today” show on Sept. 11. 

But Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, did send out a message to the managers of NBC’s affiliated stations Wednesday, which acknowledged that they had been hit with a storm of criticism from their viewers over the decision – and apologized for putting the stations through that. 

The incident received wide coverage Tuesday, mainly because “Today” was the only one of the three network morning shows not to participate in the moment of silence in memory of those who died on 9/11, but also because “Today” happened to be in the midst of a segment that seemed to invite ridicule: an interview with Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the tabloid-darling Kardashian clan, who was discussing her breast augmentation. 

Mr. Capus sent his memo to NBC Affiliate Corporation Group executives, and began by citing the extensive coverage “Today” provided Wednesday to the attacks on the American embassies in Libya and Egypt. Then he added: “Yesterday, we made an editorial call resulting in the September 11 moment of silence not being seen. While we dedicated a substantial amount of airtime to anniversary events, we still touched a nerve with many of your viewers…and for that we apologize.”

Read More Here.