To NBC it’s About Jon & Kate…Minus Eight

When you consider that the entire reason anyone knows Jon and Kate Gosselin is that their reality show is about their life with eight young children, you would assume that, when the couple announced they were divorcing, the media would spare some attention for the effect on those children.

However, following the public announcement from the stars of “Jon & Kate Plus Eight,” that they were splitting, the June 23 “Today Show” wasn’t much concerned about the well-being of the Gosselin kids. NBC preferred to focus on the Jon and Kate themselves and the ratings of the show. The report didn’t mention the what the divorce (and the continuation of the show) would mean for the children.  

Reporter Amy Robach mentioned that the parents thought the separation was what was best for the children, but preferred to dwell on more important things. “Jon and Kate will go their separate ways for now,” Robach said, “but the success of the show may well depend on how this real-life drama plays out over the remainder of the season.”

“Today” also featured Kate Coyne, senior editor of People magazine analyzing the elder Gosselin’s emotions as they announced their divorce. “It speaks a little bit to where he is emotionally,” Coyne said. “And certainly the place where Kate is emotionally, I think it was really heartbreaking when she talked about not wanting to be alone.” Nobody seemed overly concerned about where the children were emotionally.

In focusing on the parents, “Today” missed the real heartbreaking story of eight children losing their parents to divorce. However, considering the Today Show’s opinion on divorce, this report was really not surprising.