Before the Harvey Weinstein scandal, there was the Fox News meltdown.
In 2016, the late Roger Ailes was accused of engaging in, abetting and quietly covering up multiple acts of sexual misconduct at Fox News. His ouster soon led to the hasty firing of one of the network’s biggest stars, Bill O’Reilly, who was also accused of several acts of sexual improprieties.
At the time of their undoing, there was no shortage of commentary suggesting Fox was unique in the news industry for being the frat-boy network.
But as we’ve seen with subsequent reports alleging sexual misdeeds by high-profile media figures in competing newsrooms, including ABC and CBS News, Fox is not the only media company that’s guilty of taking a decidedly unethical, boys club approach to dealing with sexual misconduct.
In fact, Fox may have a serious competitor.
After news broke this week that NBC had fired Matt Lauer over allegations he sexually harassed and even assaulted some female subordinates, it’s time we talk seriously about whatever the hell is going on at 30 Rock. For the Peacock Network, a pattern of sneaky conduct, coupled with the seriousness of accusations brought against Lauer, has many rightly wondering just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
NBC’s ethically dubious handling of accusations of sexual misconduct isn’t new. In 1999, for example, the network held its exclusive interview of Juanita Broaddrick, who claims Bill Clinton raped her in the 1970s, until after the president had been acquitted on two articles of impeachment.
More recently, in 2016, many wondered why it took a leaker for the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, which features then-NBC employee Donald Trump bragging about grabbing women “by the pussy,” to be made public. NBC News still hasn’t explained why it sat on that particular bombshell for 11 years.
Then there are the reports alleging NBC News tried its best to squash MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow’s dogged reporting on the Weinstein scandal. Farrow himself has confirmed as much. It’s worth noting his reporting, which is largely responsible for giving the “Me Too” movement a much-needed spark, didn’t run on NBC’s own network. Farrow’s exclusive Weinstein coverage was published by the New Yorker.
And as recently as this week, after reports surfaced alleging Lauer harassed subordinates and even sexually assaulted one, both Variety and the New York Times have produced sources claiming NBC executives were aware of their talent’s reportedly monstrous behavior. These same sources also claim NBC brass made no effort to stop it.
By Friday, certain MSNBC hosts were even bragging on air about what they knew about Lauer’s reported predations.
To be clear, raising questions about NBC is by no means a defense of Fox. The right-leaning cable news network does indeed seem to have rotted from the top down. It still has a long way to go towards correcting its problems. The point here is to question whether other networks have similarly deep-rooted problems and whether the stuff that has been uncovered at Fox is an industry-wide problem.
Considering we have allegations of misconduct at ABC, CBS and now NBC News, the answer to those questions seems to be a solid, “Yes.”
NBC president Andy Lack promised staff in a memo Friday that a team of investigators had “begun a thorough and timely review of what happened and what we can do to build a culture of greater transparency, openness and respect for each other.”
Encouraging words. But we’re probably going to need far more than just a memo if we’re to believe the Peacock Network is serious about addressing what looks like an institutional problem stretching back for decades.
