NBC News president Steve Capus has issued an apology to the network’s affiliated stations after the “Today” show aired a segment with “Keeping up with the Kardashians” star Kris Jenner instead of the 9/11 moment of silence on Tuesday. The New York Times’ Bill Carter has details:
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 Sept, 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.”
Carter also notes that NBC has no plans to apologize for the decision. The network says “Today” has not historically observed the moment of silence, pointing out they have included it only once since the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in 2006. The 9/11 moment of silence was edited into the show for the West Coast feed.