With the network’s most popular newsman sidelined due to false reporting, NBC News is looking to make major changes behind the scenes. That could include changes going all the way to the top of the NBCUniversal news division.
According to a report by Variety, NBCU is in early talks with former NBC News president Andrew Lack to bring him back. Variety’s sources say that he could take a top role in one of the divisions, or he could even take the top position of NBCU News Group Chairman. Pat Fili-Krushel has had that role since 2012 and would move to another position if Lack replaced her.
A source for CNN also confirmed that talks with Lack were underway.
Meanwhile, current NBC News president Deborah Turness is also expected to stay at NBCU, but could have another role.
Turness was thrust into the spotlight and forced to make statements on NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams’ fabricated 2003 Iraq War story. Williams had told the story several times before, but when he told it again earlier this year, the media began digging into it and found that it was not true. In February, Williams was suspended six months without pay.
NBC News has also been criticized for other incorrect reports, including a February incident in which Bill Neely reported that the suspects in the Charlie Hebdo killings in France were killed before they actually were. Fili-Krushel has been a target, since she comes from a TV executive background, not a journalism background. Fili-Krushel has also seen ratings declines for MSNBC and CNBC.
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