NBC TODAY co-host Savannah Guthrie has a history of exercising questionable judgment by becoming entangled in conflicts of interest. ...
NBC TODAY co-host Savannah Guthrie has a history of exercising questionable judgment by becoming entangled in conflicts of interest.
Last week, Guthrie admitted just before interviewing the actor by Johnny Depp Legal team – Camilla Vasquez and Benjamin Chew – that her husband, Michael Feldmandid PR consultancy for this team, which earlier this month won a libel suit against the actress’ ex-wife of Depp Amber Heard.
“A quick eye-opener, my husband did some consulting work for Depp’s legal team, but not in relation to this interview,” she said.
While the disclosure should be appreciated, it is a loophole as it was nonetheless a conflict of interest for Guthrie to conduct the June 8 interview.
Worse still, Guthrie repeatedly failed to disclose this information when it came to interviews with the players in the case.
This included during his June 2 interview with Heard lawyer Elaine Bredehoft.
Guthrie again did not mention his conflict of interest during his interview with Heard, published this week.
In 2017, Guthrie co-author of a children’s book with Allison Oppenheimwife of the president of NBC News Noah Oppenheim, title Princesses wear pants.
Having a relationship in which a subordinate co-writes a book with a superior’s wife is sure to raise eyebrows in any workplace and would clearly jeopardize trust between employees in the newsroom. Relations between bosses and subordinates must be purely professional, as we have seen in the case of jeff zuckerwho resigned as CNN chief in February after failing to disclose a personal and romantic relationship with a subordinate.
Ultimately, Where Is NBCUniversal’s Chief Compliance Officer Christine Cougan? (The book was published before Coogan began his current role.) Coogan’s silence and lack of action are inexcusable.
In journalism, conflicts of interest, whether large or small, must be avoided. Especially since the public’s trust in the media is extremely lowthe media must ensure that there will be no problems with reporters and presenters who are trapped in issues that interest readers and viewers.
Of George Stephanopoulos at Chris Cuomo from Zucker to Guthrie, conflicts of interest have only damaged the reputation of the press. Guthrie’s lack of judgment should be cause for concern for NBC News, which should take steps to prevent what Guthrie did from happening again.
This is an opinion piece. The opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.
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