This week marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta “one of the most important documents in human history” and on Monday, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today apparently felt their viewers don’t appreciate a key part of world history and skipped the event altogether. CBS This Morning proved it was an actual news show and provided a full segment on the anniversary.
Instead of covering the celebration of the document that helped to shape our own Constitution and Bill of Rights, the two networks swooned over toddler Prince George's appearance at the celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 89th birthday. While the Queen herself took time out of her birthday festivities to attend a ceremony honoring the Magna Carta, ABC and NBC couldn’t be bothered to do the same.
CBS’s Norah O’Donnell described how the Magna Carta is “considered a cornerstone of modern democracy and a crucial influence on our founding fathers” before she turned to London based reporter Charlie D’Agata to detail “the single page that changed history.”
ABC's Bob Woodruff proclaimed "[h]e's the new prince of Polo, enjoying a casual day in the sun with his family, proving the pint-sized prince is already following in his father’s footsteps...There's a new style icon, Prince George's crocs and cardigan have already sold out. George learning the royal ropes as the nation celebrated trooping the color, the official celebration of the queen's 89th birthday."
On NBC, reporter Katy Tur beamed at how "[w]ith a wave and a cheeky grin, little Prince George made history on the Buckingham Palace balcony this past weekend, as the almost 2-year-old joined mom, dad and the rest of the royal gang to celebrate great grandma, Queen Elizabeth's 89th birthday."
ABC and NBC both touted how toddler Prince George wore the same outfit that his father Prince William wore 30 years ago during the birthday celebration but couldn't be bothered to mention, like CBS did, that amidst the celebration William was “among the royal family members to make the journey to a place called Runnymede a place west of London where the historic document was signed 8 centuries ago.”
D’Agata explained how despite England honoring the Magna Carta, it has had a much larger influence in the United States:
It was after all the American Bar Association that dedicated the first monument in that field at Runnymede, not the English. Now the original was hardly a rallying cry for the common man. In fact, it explicitly discriminated against peasants and women, but later more enlightened versions helped underpin the American legal system, specifically that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law.
Even though Prince George is a newer story and thus more appealing to the viewers of ABC and NBC than the Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary, one would think the so-called news networks could find time while they were gushing over the royal baby’s appearance at Queen Elizabeth’s birthday to mention the historic event instead of skipping it altogether.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
June 15, 2015
NORAH O’DONNELL: This morning Britain is commemorating one of the most important documents in human history. England’s King John ratified the Magna Carta 800 years ago. It's considered a cornerstone of modern democracy and a crucial influence on our founding fathers. Charlie D’Agata is in London with the single page that changed history. Charlie good morning.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: Good morning to you. It's the celebration of a document that predates the United States by 560 years but it's more relevant now than ever. Serves as the inspiration for our own Constitution, the U.S. Bill of Rights and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The queen, husband Prince Philip and Prince William were among the royal family members to make the journey to a place called Runnymede a place west of London where the historic document was signed 8 centuries ago.
The ceremony unveiled new artwork symbolizing one of Magna Carta’s most important clauses; 12 bronze cheers facing each other to signify the right to a trial by jury. A replica of the document onboard the royal barge made its way down the River Thames to the site over the weekend, leading a flotilla of 200 boats. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond called it Britain's first export of intellectual property.
PHILIP HAMMOND: It inspired the founding fathers of the United States. To this day the images of Magna Carta is emblazoned on the great doors of the Supreme Court of the United States.
D’AGATA: Four copies of the document survived. Two of them held in the British library. Earlier this year, Prince Charles visited the National Archives in Washington, D.C where a later version is on display. Hastily scribbled on a single page of parchment, Magna Carta, great charter in Latin, was signed by King John by force in order to subdue angry and powerful barons who were sick of getting kicked around by the treacherous and unpopular monarch. And today's ceremony may be making up for lost time.
Magna Carta has taken on far more significance in the United States than here in Britain. It was after all the American Bar Association that dedicated the first monument in that field at Runnymede, not the English. Now the original was hardly a rallying cry for the common man. In fact, it explicitly discriminated against peasants and women, but later more enlightened versions helped underpin the American legal system, specifically that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law.
