Advocacy group says NBC’s internal misconduct review not ‘credible’
An advocacy group aimed at preventing sexual misconduct in newsrooms says an NBC investigation into misconduct claims against former “Today” show host Matt Lauer doesn’t go far enough.
Press Forward argued Wednesday that NBC’s internal probe was not credible after it concluded the network’s management was not aware of the Lauer allegations before they became public last year.
“While we appreciate NBC releasing the results of its internal investigation to the public, there needs to be an independent internal investigation for this to be credible,” Press Forward said in a statement.
“There is an inherent conflict of interest when management reviews itself.”
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The group recommended a third-party investigator, saying, “No one is going to be fully candid when speaking to management for fear of losing their jobs.”
“News organizations, journalists and media all hold corporations, governments, and individuals to higher standards in similar instances, so it’s concerning that NBC would not choose to follow those same standards itself.”
Lauer was fired from NBC News last year after the network said it received a “detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by” Lauer.
While the NBC memo said it was the first complaint it received about Lauer, it added it had “reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”
Three more women later came forward with allegations against the NBC host.
The network launched an internal probe following Lauer’s ouster, the findings of which were detailed on Wednesday.
“We were also unable to establish that any of those interviewed, including NBC News and ‘Today’ leadership, News HR and others in the position of authority in the news division, knew that Lauer had engaged in sexual activity with other employees,” the report noted, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The internal review was conducted by legal counsel at NBCUniversal along with help from two outside legal firms, according to the Times.
Press Forward was launched last year after various men in the news industry, including Lauer and then-“CBS This Morning” anchor Charlie Rose, were accused of sexual misconduct.
The group’s board of advisers include PBS’s Judy Woodruff, former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and CNN’s Jake Tapper and Alisyn Camerota.