Kris Jenner Breast Implant Interview Airs on Today Show During 9/11 Moment of Silence

Culture

I certainly was appalled when my American Government and Politics professor neglected to even reference 9/11 in our discussion Tuesday. While this situation only effected the small community of my 200 person lecture, the fact that NBC not only failed to include a moment of silence for the anniversary of the Twin Towers falling, but instead replaced it with an interview with the infamous Kris [Kardashian] Jenner and her recent breast implants is quite distasteful. One might think the widely recognized and heavily watched Today Show had a bit more consideration than that, especially given that Americans are most reflective and cognizant of their nation on the day that shook the country 11 years ago.

Americans turn to Twitter and Facebook as an outlet to share their memories of those who lost their lives; TV shows like the Today Show are also a place for the population to turn to mourn this tragic event. The White House rightfully led a moment of observation, just as the NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority Police did from the Ground Zero site. 

If you looked on Twitter Tuesday, you’d find #AlwaysRemember and #GroundZero trending. Similarly, Facebook homepages were filled with shared pictures of the Twin Towers and statuses devoted to the events of 9/11. But if any of the 6.35 million Today Show viewers turned to the show for their news, they wouldn’t find so much as a moment of silence.  

Fox News brings up the question of whether or not this constitutes an #NBCFail again (referencing the network's alleged faulty Olympics coverage). Tweets after the Kardashian interview included: “@kbradman While other networks observe a moment of silence for 9/11, NBC interviews reality TV star #NBCfail” and “@R_But7 I cannot believe NBC Interviewed Kris Jenner yesterday instead of observing a moment of silence for 9/11. Dumb Kardashians #NBCfail #idiots” ... just to name a few.

In discussing priorities of the nation as a whole, I’d say the reactions by the general masses to this “NBC Fail” are appropriate, and it is the network whose priorities are out of wack. In Today's defense, honoring the moment of silence has not occurred on the Today Show since 2006 and is simply no longer “tradition.” From any affected citizen’s defense, a “tradition” is a long established custom that should not have been retired after a mere five years. The Today Show announced to the New York Times that they will not be issuing an apology, which means NBC will continue to be criticized and challenged on their patriotism and ultimately, their respect system.

Kudos to yet another Kardashian for stepping into the limelight for no apparent reason. Stay tuned for the next Today Show: The Kardashian sisters do a public reading of their latest book “Kardashian Konfidential” during the Romney/Obama debate.