BROKAW ASKS ROMNEY TO REMOVE AD

Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw has voiced his strong objection to a new campaign ad by Mitt Romney whose sole content is Brokaw’s January 21, 1997 report on NBC Nightly News about the House vote censuring Newt Gingrich for ethics violations. “I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad,” Brokaw said in a statement. “I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign.” The ad, which went viral on the Internet after Brokaw objected to it — possibly the intention of the Romney campaign all along — was accompanied by angry comments from Gingrich supporters, many of them belittling Brokaw’s description of himself as a journalist and claiming that he had always acted as a biased, liberal mouthpiece. NBC said on Saturday that it has sent a letter to Romney’s campaign asking that it remove all NBC News material from its ads. “NBC News objects to any use of NBC News journalists and our copyrighted material that suggests to the public that we or our journalists are taking sides with any individual or organization involved in a political campaign or dispute, and we request that your organization respect that concern,” the letter to the Romney campaign said.