I love patriotism…but…

I love patriotism, people who are proud of themselves and their country. Who then show that by singing their anthem. Not just our own Canadian anthem, but American too (or any other for that matter). For me, its quite moving. Like the recent event of the US hockey game where the entire stadium sang along. Loved it!

But what spoils it is when someone speaks while listening to it. There’s nothing that irritates me more than a news reporter that speaks (talks over) the video/audio tape while a national anthem is playing.

So a note to news reporters…

show some respect…

shut your mouth while your anthem is being played.

Anthems are not a 10 sec sound bite. That might be the way of the world today but that doesn’t make it right. If you are going to play your anthem during your broadcast, play all of it. No banter, no jibber jabber. Play the anthem in its entirety as nothing else needs to be said. Doing that will resonate deeper with your audience more than anything that comes out of your mouth.

Now, back to your regular scheduled programming. :)