[BRIEF NOTE] A Stunning Lapse

[rfmcdonald]

Reading my free copy of Metro Toronto on the subway this morning, and not being a viewer of The West Wing, I was shocked to discover that aforementioned television show--supposedly about, by, and for policy wonks--identified Turkey as an Islamic republic that executed women for the crime of adultery. Journal of Turkish Weekly covers NBC's apology:

Television network NBC President Jeff Zucker apologized by letter to Turkey's Ambassador to Washington, Frank Logoglu, after broadcasting an inaccurate portrayal of Turkey in a recent episode of the show "West Wing".

The show portrayed Turkey to be a country ruled by Islamic law that had ordered the beheading of a woman for the crime of adultery.

Both Zucker and the executive producer of the show, John Well's, offered their apologies for the unflattering portrayal and worte that they had been misinformed about Turkey and its laws.

"In the future we will not only visit Turkey, a country that we admire, but also present a better and correct portrayal of your country." Zucker and Wells said in an attempt to correct the defamation.

I'm still surprised that apparently the writers never heard of Ataturk. No, Muslims are not all alike. optimussven can go into much more detail than me.