The Staff Has Lost Respect for NBC Management

When Ronan Farrow’s book Catch and Kill came out, a number of NBC staffers could not wait to read it.

The book talks about how NBC spiked Farrow’s reporting on Harvey Weinstein and chased him out the door. Farrow did publish his Pulitzer winning story in The New Yorker.

NBC News boss Noah Oppenheim was the one that pulled Farrow off the story and that fact has many inside NBC fuming.

Then word comes down that NBC has renewed Oppenheim’s contract and that he is the heir apparent to NBC News boss Andy Lack.

“I have no respect for Noah or Lack anymore,” said one NBC staffer to FTVLive.

In reading Catch and Kill, it appears that Oppenheim spiked the story, but it was because his bosses, Lack and Comcast (owner of NBC) CEO Brian Roberts told him too.

“It might not have been Noah’s call, but he should have grown a backbone and stood up for journalists,” the NBC staffer says.

It’s as if Oppenheim caved to his bosses’ demands and then was rewarded with a new contract for doing so.

Another staffer at NBC says that Oppenheim “sold his soul” by not standing up.

While Oppenheim has a fat new contract there is one thing he doesn’t have? The respect of the news staff.

“I have no respect for this man what-so-ever,” said a third staffer at NBC to FTVLive.

Farrow’s book also makes claims that many knew of Matt Lauer’s inappropriate behavior towards female staffers long before management claims they did.

According to Farrow’s book, Ann Curry claims that she alerted people long before the claim that got Lauer fired.

We all know what happened to her.

NBC has a big problem and this starts at the top and works its way down.

---