Washington, DC, July 13, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – NBC has offered a formal apology for severing the phrase “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during the opening feature of their broadcast of the U.S Open on June 19th, 2011.
In a letter dated June 24, 2011, 108 members of congress had expressed “serious concern” to NBC about the media giant’s glaring omission of “under God” twice from the Pledge of Allegiance.
“As Members of Congress, we are disturbed that the official Pledge of our nation was altered in this way,” they said. “We live in a society where there are increasing efforts to remove all mention of religion from public life, and we remain dedicated to defending against such attempts.”
In its formal apology to the Congressmen, NBC stated that a “serious error in judgment was made by a small group of people.” The station also said that the omission was not an “ideological decision by the company” and that it was “not discussed with or approved by any senior NBCUniversal official.”
“[T]he employees who made this decision were wrong,” said NBC. “It was an inexcusable mistake in judgment and it will not be repeated.”
The apology was welcomed by Jay Alan Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). Immediately after witnessing NBC’s Pledge debacle, Sekulow and his team crafted a Letter of Protest, demanding that “NBC put in place a policy that ensures when the Pledge airs, so do the words, ‘under God’.” According to Sekulow, within days “tens of thousands” signed the letter.
In the formal apology NBC said it has taken steps to “prevent similar mistakes in the future.”
“[W]e have already implemented a new checks and balances process for pre-produced pieces, ensuring that nothing will go on the air without senior-level approval, including and up to the executive in charge of production at any event,” they said.