'Today' interviews Kris Jenner instead of airing moment of silence for victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks
Published September 11, 2012
FoxNews.com


The 'Today Show' chose to interview Kim Kardashian's mom on Tuesday morning instead of observing a moment of silence in memory of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Every year since the attacks of September 11, 2001, a moment of silence has been observed at 8:46 a.m., the moment when the first plane slammed into the Twin Towers. President Obama and the First Lady led the moment of silence at the White House, and newscasts on other the other two broadcast morning shows -- 'Good Morning America' and 'CBS This Morning' -- aired the solemn ceremony.

But not NBC's "Today Show." Instead new co-host Savannah Guthrie spoke to Kris Jenner about the new season of the hit E! reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and her breast implants.

Coming out of a commercial break, Guthrie segued, "Back now at 8:45 with Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashian clan," before beginning a five-minute interview that covered the importance of changing out your breast implants later in life, working out with a personal trainer, and welcoming hip hop star Kanye West into the family.

New York City's was the only market where the Jenner interview was interrupted, with the local NBC affiliate covering the city's remembrance at Ground Zero, according to TV Newser.

But the network is standing by its decision to air the Kardashian family matriarch over the 9/11 remembrance.

“The Today show dedicated a considerable amount of time to September 11th coverage this morning throughout the entire show,” a spokesperson told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column.

A source connected to the network also told us that TODAY had devoted sufficient air time to the 11th anniversary of the tragedy, including a segment with a Twin Towers attack survivor and multiple shots of the emerging Freedom Tower throughout the program. Some NBC affiliates aired the memorials, and MSNBC aired the entire TODAY show from 9/11/2001.

Horrified viewers took to Twitter, with one writing: "The Today Show chose to continue their interview with Kris Jenner rather than participate in a 9.11 moment of silence. DISGUSTING."

"The fact that Kris Jenner is a guest on the today show on 9/11 seriously makes me doubt humanity," another wrote.



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A dumb move is better than no move at all, however I think from a business standpoint that was a poor decision NBC made to not include a moment of silence into there scheduled programing. Not horrible but not the best decision. Any professional media annalist could have clearly seen the writing on the wall for the bad publicity this would bring. Having said that, I seem to remember a phrase that went something like "Bad publicity is good publicity". But seriously folks, anyone with an ounce of intelligence can figure out that this was a publicity stunt with the full intention of upsetting the public. Is it a coincidence they aired something in its place as superficial as "breast implants" that would no doubt make things worst and create bigger headlines? I don't think so. Now you may ask why do I think it was a bad business decision if they are getting more publicity. I think so because it will be short term publicity and long term damage to there reputation as America's TV network, as we all know, they want to be considered as such. Some people will not watch there programing anymore because they were insulted.

From a personal standpoint I see no point in a moment of silence, I see it as a wasted moment you could have spent doing something constructive. If you want to do it in the name of "911" fine, whatever gets you motivated to do something besides nothing certainly must be a good thing. I can think of no better way to honor the people that lost there lives on the 911 disaster than to do something helpful, good, or constructive. Perhaps call a friend, or hug your neighbor, pick up some trash you see on the sidewalk, do something that is more constructive than just experiencing a moment a silence. But in a business such as NBC where you must cater your actions to what the majority of your audience thinks is the proper thing to do, which in this case is nothing, you should adhere to the popular morality set of standards, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.

Short term good move, long term not a disaster but will have some negative ratings repercussions as a result, but in the end, this too shall pass.