NBC omits "key" words from pledge before U.S. Open, issues apology.
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NBC omits "key" words from pledge before U.S. Open, issues apology.
| Sun, 06-19-2011 - 9:04pm |
This is unbelievable.
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/NBC-apologizes-for-omitting-under-God-from-ple?urn=golf-wp2901
Sun Jun 19 03:24pm EDT
NBC apologizes for omitting ‘under God’ from pledge before U.S. Open
By Jay Busbee
Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.
Rory McIlroy has almost certainly drained all the drama out of the on-course play at the U.S. Open. But outside the ropes, NBC led off its telecast with an immediately controversial pre-taped segment. Listen to the pledge of allegiance that runs alongside the patriotic images, and later to the one that overlays video of previous U.S. Open winners:
In case it's been awhile since you said the pledge in elementary school, the first version left out the words "under God" and "indivisible." The second went even further, knocking out "one nation" as well.
The outcry on Twitter was immediate and almost universally negative. Perhaps this style was an artistic choice on the part of the segment producer, interweaving the pledge with military and golf-related sound bites, but the decision to leave out "under God" is a curious one at best, and a highly controversial one, without doubt.
Later in the telecast, host Dan Hicks read the following statement during coverage: "It was our intent to begin our coverage of this U.S. Open championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being here in our nation's capital for the third time. Regrettably, a portion of the pledge of allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone and we'd like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it."
Of note: "under God" was not in the original pledge from 1892, which read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The words "under God" were not added to the pledge until 1954, when President Eisenhower signed Congressional legislation to that effect into law.
Related: Rory McIlroy
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/NBC-apologizes-for-omitting-under-God-from-ple?urn=golf-wp2901
Sun Jun 19 03:24pm EDT
NBC apologizes for omitting ‘under God’ from pledge before U.S. Open
By Jay Busbee
Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.
Rory McIlroy has almost certainly drained all the drama out of the on-course play at the U.S. Open. But outside the ropes, NBC led off its telecast with an immediately controversial pre-taped segment. Listen to the pledge of allegiance that runs alongside the patriotic images, and later to the one that overlays video of previous U.S. Open winners:
In case it's been awhile since you said the pledge in elementary school, the first version left out the words "under God" and "indivisible." The second went even further, knocking out "one nation" as well.
The outcry on Twitter was immediate and almost universally negative. Perhaps this style was an artistic choice on the part of the segment producer, interweaving the pledge with military and golf-related sound bites, but the decision to leave out "under God" is a curious one at best, and a highly controversial one, without doubt.
Later in the telecast, host Dan Hicks read the following statement during coverage: "It was our intent to begin our coverage of this U.S. Open championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being here in our nation's capital for the third time. Regrettably, a portion of the pledge of allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone and we'd like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it."
Of note: "under God" was not in the original pledge from 1892, which read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The words "under God" were not added to the pledge until 1954, when President Eisenhower signed Congressional legislation to that effect into law.
Related: Rory McIlroy
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What I was responding to when I said everyone was this, "You mean like insinuating that people who don't recite the Pledge are disrespectful and aren't honoring our military people or our country?"
If you put the "everyone" I used back into context you can see that the everyone I was referring to were those that choose not to participate in the pledge.
Keeping words in context instead of singling words out that can become yet another distraction to the actual topic is a tactic that has been on these boards since I began way back in 2004. It's always been very frustrating to me.
NBC (and Comcast) are purveyors of a product. They sell entertainment. When they're concerned that their bottom line may be adversely affected, you can bet money they'll do whatever it takes to get back into the good graces (and pockets) of the public.
Does it mean that they actually did something wrong by omitting "under God"? Not in my book. But clearly there are people who are demanding that the pledge must be to their standards or there wouldn't be the issue--or this thread. So I find the query "where is this happening?" in regards to my earlier comment that "The issue arises when it's obligatory or when people demand that it be done to suit their preconceptions" just a wee bit disingenuous and intellectually dishonest.
Clearly, NBC received enough backlash from viewers that they felt the need to apologize and apologize rather swiftly at that. They broadcast their apology during the event, which implies to me that they received an awful lot of negative feedback on their choice pretty quickly that they felt the need to do something immediately.
This is an issue that can be bantered around back and forth forever with no resolution. The pledge is the pledge. There is one version, not two. Free speech affords NBC to change the pledge, there is no law against it. Free speech also allows people to raise objection to the version they chose to air to the public. It would seem they chose the wrong audience for this version.
As for the change in 1954, Most of the population of the US only knows one version. I'm only making an assumption here, but most people, whether they hold strong beliefs in God or not don't see the need to change the pledge, however, if there are those that feel that the pledge is wrong to include "under God" or "indivisible" which was also eliminated by NBC then they should go the process of attempting to change the pledge. I don't know what that is, but I think that the majority are probably more traditionalist like me and see no need to change it and wouldn't want to see it changed.
Exactly!
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