NPR White House Correspondent Ari Shapiro sparked an interesting journalistic debate Tuesday (Sept. 11) with two of his tweets from a campaign event for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney: “As a reporter I’m torn about joining in the pledge of allegiance/national anthem at rallies. I’m a rally observer, not a participant.” Then: “Yet most reporters around me stand for the anthem & pledge. I’m one of the few that doesn’t. Setting myself up for accusations I guess.”
“I expected a flood of vitriol,” Shapiro writes on NPR.org. “Instead, a thoughtful Twitter dialogue unfolded about what it means to be a journalist, what it means to be American, and what role the Pledge of Allegiance plays in our society.”