NBC News is being criticized after the network’s former reporter, Ronan Farrow, has once again taken over the news cycle.
On Monday, Farrow co-bylined a major scoop documenting four accusations of sexual misconduct by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which led to his resignation just hours later.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Farrow also bylined a lesser noticed, but no less substantive, story about Black Cube, the Israeli intelligence firm, which collected dirt on Harvey Weinstein’s accusers, and also attempted to find information on former Obama administration officials in an attempt to blow up the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.
With Farrow’s stories taking over the news cycle, more than a few commentators noted that NBC News passed on publishing Farrow’s Pulitzer Prize-winning piece on Harvey Weinstein, which Farrow told Rachel Maddow in October.
“I have to wonder: Every time Farrow breaks another story, do staffers at NBC wince?” asked CNN media guru Brian Stelter in his regular newsletter Monday evening.
But it wasn’t just Stelter who was chattering about the missed opportunity for the peacock network.
3. NBC executives doubting @RonanFarrow‘s ability to report out a story is one of the biggest mistakes a news organization has made in the past decade.
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) May 7, 2018
1. What hasn't really been talked about is how much some NBC executives doubted @RonanFarrow's skills. This goes beyond killing the Weinstein story…they never saw Ronan worthy of being treated like a top-notch reporter…(cont) https://t.co/bY6ndO9yq7
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) May 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/hunterw/status/993691476054986753
NBC's Andy Lack has blown so many key personnel issues — tolerating Matt Lauer, hiring Megyn Kelly. But his failure to keep @RonanFarrow on staff ranks near the top. Or the bottom, depending on how you look at it. https://t.co/xjhYdph7vE
— Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) May 7, 2018
NBC let Ronan walk …
— Roben Farzad (@robenfarzad) May 8, 2018
Ronan Farrow 2, NBC News 0.
— Rob Tornoe (@RobTornoe) May 8, 2018
hey is anyone at NBC losing their job over trading away Ronan Farrow
— Jason Linkins (@dceiver) May 8, 2018