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Former NBC star Matt Lauer laid out a scathing indictment of journalist Ronan Farrow Tuesday, alleging that the Pulitzer-winning reporter engaged in "shocking" displays of journalistic negligence.
"He routinely presented stories in a way that would suit his activist goals, as opposed to any kind of journalistic standards," Lauer wrote in a Mediaite op-ed published Tuesday.
Lauer, who was fired from NBC amid sexual misconduct allegations in November 2017, argued that Farrow failed to confirm stories from his main sources, "failed" to provide evidence of communication between Lauer and his accusers, and used misleading language "to manipulate readers into believing things that could easily be false, or were at least unprovable."
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Lauer's op-ed followed a column by The New York Times' Ben Smith that criticized Farrow's reporting, which has been credited with derailing the careers of film producer Harvey Weinstein, former CBS CEO Les Moonves, and former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Farrow's reporting on Weinstein in The New Yorker magazine earned that publication a share of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Reporting and led to the rise of the #MeToo movement.
Smith's Sunday column, headlined "Is Ronan Farrow Too Good to Be True?" cites two NBC journalists who, according to Smith, shared NBC executives' view that Farrow was "a talented young reporter with big ambitions but little experience, who didn’t realize how high the standards of proof were, particularly at slow-moving, super-cautious news networks."
Lauer's column for Mediaite is headlined, "Why Ronan Farrow is Indeed Too Good To be True," and focuses on Farrow's 2019 book, "Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators."
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"What I found when I read the book was frankly shocking, and it should concern anyone who cares about journalism. This is not just about accusations against the former host of the 'Today Show,'" Lauer wrote.
"It’s about whether changing social attitudes can be allowed to change the most fundamental rules of journalism," he added. "It’s about whether, as journalists, we have a responsibility to check facts and vet sources. It’s about understanding the difference between journalism and activism. It is about whether we are putting far too much trust in journalists whose publicly stated opinions impact their ability to remain objective."
Lauer cites conversations he had with critical figures in Farrow's book who were allegedly not contacted by the reporter himself. In one instance, Lauer claims he spoke for hours with two ex-boyfriends of Brooke Nevils, who accused Lauer of raping her in a hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
One of Nevils' former boyfriends was a producer whom she purportedly told about an assault by Lauer in his dressing room.
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"We spoke by phone for the better part of two hours," Lauer writes. "He was very upset at being referenced, even indirectly, in the book, but he was worried that he would face criticism if he spoke out.
"But he told me that Brooke did not come crying to see him in the control room to discuss any story of an assault involving me. It didn’t happen. In fact, that 'new guy' in Brooke’s life told me that he wouldn’t have even been in the control room, at the time of day Ronan writes she ran crying to see him."
Lauer goes onto claim that the same producer told him that "Ronan Farrow never reached out to him to fact check the story that referenced him in the book." He adds the assault never happened and his relationship with Nevils was consensual. NBC declined to comment.
In a statement provided to Fox News, Farrow said: “We called dozens of corroborators around the Lauer allegations described in the book, and more than a dozen around Brooke Nevils specifically."
Farrow also defended himself, responding to Smith's column with a series of tweets and retweets about his work. That included a lengthy thread from New Yorker editor Michael Luo, who said: "We are proud of @ronanfarrow’s reporting, and we stand by it."
For his own part, Farrow posted a similar thread defending his work Monday in response to Smith's column, concluding with the phrase, "I stand by my reporting."
On Tuesday, in a further response to Lauer's piece, Farrow tweeted: "All I’ll say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong. Catch and Kill was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself."
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A spokesperson for Little, Brown and Company said late Tuesday that the publisher "fully supports Ronan Farrow and his reporting in 'Catch and Kill.'
"Ronan’s dedication to a deep and thorough fact-check of his reporting, his commitment to the rights of victims and his impeccable attention to detail and nuance make us proud to be his publisher.”