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NBC Called Out For Diving Into Lochte Story Without Properly Vetting It

NBC last week became the "exclusive repository" of Ryan Lochte's "dubious tale of a gunpoint robbery in Rio," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. The net's Billy Bush during his initial interview listened "intently as Lochte spun out his story, without really challenging him on the details." Even if Bush had no reason to doubt Lochte, he "could have asked what the men looked like, how much money was taken, what Lochte had done afterward or how he was feeling." In a follow-up report on "Today," NBC's Keir Simmons said Lochte had "stood up to these guys; that was a brave and dangerous thing to do." Lochte's version of events had, "in essence, co-opted NBC." It was a "risky thing for NBC to televise without stronger vetting." Sensational as it was, Lochte's account "needed more reporting before it entered NBC's news ecosystem." Bush ended up holding onto his "trust in Lochte's account too long." Brazilian authorities were "tearing into the story" by Thursday morning, yet Bush "stood by it" on that day's "Today" show. By Friday morning, Lochte's story "was in tatters." Yet on "Today," Bush got into an "unusual spat with Al Roker while trying, it seemed, not to let his exclusive be fully ruined." Meanwhile, NBC's Matt Lauer, with his "longer years of experience in breaking news, should have openly questioned Lochte's credibility" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/21). 

FIVE-DAY FORECAST: In DC, Cindy Boren noted it was Roker who was expressing the "full exasperation that so many people feel over the ugly incident." Roker on Friday said to Bush, "He lied to you, he lied to Matt Lauer, he lied to his mom." Bush tried to "defend the swimmer, saying he had lied about 'some details.'" However, Roker was "having none of it." NBC's Natalie Morales also "called Bush's bluff on the story, but the outrage belonged to Roker" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/21). SI.com's Richard Deitsch notes Roker "deserved all the plaudits he received for calling out" Bush's enabling of Lochte on air. If nothing else, Roker "exposed bro (rhymes with faux)-journalism in a very public way." The net in general was "partially complicit" in Lochte's lies. However, reporter Gadi Schwartz was "always journalistically sound throughout, providing on-site reporting in Brazil." Deitsch: "I also give NBC credit for addressing the incident during two primetime shows including significant time between Costas and Lauer last Wednesday. Killing Bush for being a suck-up is easy. ... I'm less inclined to kill Lauer because the onus is on Lochte, who lied to him" (SI.com, 8/22).

RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME
: SI.com's Deitsch noted Fox Sports Australia's Ben Way first reported Lochte had been held up at gunpoint at a party in Brazil, and he knew it "would become a big story in Rio." However, it was a "total fluke that Way even came upon this story." He and a camera person last Sunday had wrapped an interview with Australian swimmer Mack Horton, and on his way back, Way saw Lochte's mother Ileana. Way said, "She proceeded to tell me how terrible her stay had been. She's broken her foot and now her son had been held up at gunpoint. ... I responded 'Is he an athlete?'  To which she replied: 'Yes, and he is prone to big nights and that sort of stuff.' 'He has bleached white hair, or grey hair, or blue hair, I don't really know what it is.' My cameraman asked, 'Is your son Ryan Lochte?' To which she said, 'Yes, he is.'" FS Australia "ran the story at about 10:20 am Rio time on Sunday." Way said, "Then I took to Twitter at 10:27 a.m. and detailed what she had just told me" (SI.com, 8/21). 

CHANGING TIMES
: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick noted since the Olympics began, NBC's "Nightly News" has, "unsurprisingly, been little more than an Olympic preview and recap show." Legitimate news that "doesn't directly serve to sell NBC's Olympic coverage" was "minimized or eliminated." A report last Monday on the "devastating floods in Louisiana was preceded by an interview with Michael Phelps." Mushnick wrote following the Brian Williams situation last year, NBC likely "would be extra protective" of "Nightly News" host Lester Holt's
"credibility and integrity." Mushnick: "One would think the last thing NBC would want to do to NBC News and to Holt is send him to Rio to be NBC's lead Olympic shill -- especially during a presidential campaign in which both candidates are painfully short on credibility. But that's not how it works in modern broadcast 'journalism'" (N.Y. POST, 8/21).

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