One thing you can always depend on is the fact that when you are in crisis communications, you will always have a job because there is always something going on. But of all days – 9/11 – there are sometimes where companies and news organizations hit a new low, and NBC’s Today Show did that yesterday.
What NBC did was instead of covering the moment of silence for those who lost their lives 11 years ago to the terrorist attacks on 9/11, they featured an interview with reality mom Kris Jenner. The response NBC released was not really addressing the core emotional reaction to this particular action with their viewers:
“NBC said that it aired other segments on ‘Today’ about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including an interview with a World Trade Center survivor earlier in the show. For its later West Coast feed, the network did show the commemoration of the first moment.”
WIth this statement, it appears that NBC felt justified with this act since they had done some coverage earlier in the show – but this does not excuse their actions to not over the main event of the moment of silence and and memory to those who lost their lives to 9/11. They are not taking responsibility for their actions or even apologizing for it, which is very surprising. Not surprising is the fact they do not even acknowledge this on their Twitter handle as well.
This situation for NBC is not good at all from a crisis communications standpoint- they had issues over the summer with their coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games. As a result, their ratings are not as they were before and many are taking to social media to boycott the show and go to other networks. These conversations can be followed if you look for the #NBCFail on Twitter. This may just take the cake for this news organization – all of the major outlets covered the event the entire day, and this shows where NBC stands on the issue of 9/11.
Personally, I never was one for watching morning shows like “The Today Show,” but with this action and disrespect to those who lost their lives on this terrible day, their families, and everyone in the armed forces depending our daily freedoms on a daily basis abroad, I will not watch their news coverage at all in the future.
We will never forget 9/11, but it appears that NBC has already forgotten this horrific event that changed the nation forever and is instead focusing on more important matters: Kris Jenner’s breast augmentation. This entire situation for NBC and the Today Show is just embarrassing. In some crisis situations, there are times where no matter what you do – nothing will make it better, and I think this is may be severely damaging for the news organization in terms of their reputation.
Best Wishes,
Karen
0 Comments