NBC Asks Romney To Remove Brokaw From Florida Ad

[RandySF]

Betsy Fischer, executive producer of Meet The Press and NBC News said in a tweet that the “NBC Legal Dept has written a letter to (Romney) camp asking for the removal of all NBC News material from their campaign ads.”

The ad, which is running in Florida, uses a news report by Tom Brokaw reporting on Newt Gingrich’s ethics violations back when he was House Speaker. “I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad,” Brokaw said in a statement Saturday. “I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign.”

Jon Ward from Huffington Post reports in a tweet: “Romney campaign official tells me: ‘We haven’t heard anything from NBC, nothing to comment on until then.’”


http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4818

[Skink]

1. And don't even think about using Mr. Rogers either.

[Old and In the Way]

2. This is wierd.

The video is a matter of public record. This isn't about Tom Brokaw, it's about the news being reported on that day. I don't like the idea that actual reporting of news can now be sequestered from use in campaigns.

[Angry Dragon]

4. copyright laws??

[originalpckelly]

10. Sometimes parts of our culture should no longer be the sole property of the people who created them.

[Old and In the Way]

11. I agree....news broadcasts should be acceptable fair use.

If the user was changing anything in the broadcast to twist the facts or contort the meaning of the information conveyed, I'd agree with Brokaw. But using unedited news segments to underscore a political point is a reasonable use. This isn't about the newscaster/newsreader...it's about the facts as reported on that day in 1997.

[ellenfl]

3. i'm surprised. i would have thought tb would be pleased.

i perceive him to be right leaning. apparently he doesn't see his own bias.

ellen

[hlthe2b]

6. He clearly is right leaning... He jsut doesn't want to be used against Gingrich.

Say what you will, but I miss the late Peter Jennings. Brokaw never was his equal, IMO.

[ellenfl]

12. i loved pj! no one has been good enough to replace him. eom

[hlthe2b]

5. re: "I do not want my role as a journalist compromised"....

I'm afraid that ship has sailed, Tom.... Long long ago. And, I'd just bet you wouldn't mind the eventual RETHUG nominee's campaign using against Obama.

[malaise]

7. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah you nailed it

[GeorgeGist]

8. That's all it ever was Tom ...

a role.

Tom Brokaw dropped out of The University of Iowa, where he says he majored in "beer and co-eds" before receiving his B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion in 1964.

[surfdog]

9. I seen the ad a few times now

It's pretty good