When you’re in the news business, it is wise to stay out of the news yourself. Because when you become the object of attention, competitors will gleefully exploit your missteps on every newspaper, web page and television channel they own. That’s exactly what happened to Matt Lauer, host of NBC’s Today show, when he and NBC executives agreed to an interview with The Daily Beast.
In The Daily Beast’s exclusive (a weighty 3,000 words by media-watcher and Newsweek Washington bureau chief Howard Kurtz), Lauer and NBC executives recounted the messy departure of Ann Curry a year ago and the Today show’s ratings slide since then. We learned many new things: that it wasn’t Matt’s idea to fire Ann, that he feels really bad about what happened, and that he tried to bring back Katie Couric. Tantalizing stuff, but what did it accomplish?
Well, for one thing it put the story back in the headlines. It was the top story on the Daily Beast, and everyone from The Guardian to the New York Post covered Lauer’s revelations. Unfortunately, all the attention simply reopened an old wound and ignited fresh speculation that Lauer might be on his way out too.
Risk-taking – like agreeing to discuss a big mistake – can pay off, but only if you’ve got a clear message and tangible evidence that things have changed.
Everyone has the urge to re-do a poorly handed situation, but looking backwards is seldom a good idea for prominent executives. A late apology doesn’t sound convincing, and it is very hard to change public attitudes that were firmly set by events as they were reported.
The best thing to do is say what you learned from the episode and what you’re doing differently as a result. On that, Lauer and NBC had nothing to say – no programming changes, no new talent, no executive shifts. It’s no wonder the focus remained on the inept handling of Curry’s departure and the air of crisis hanging over the program.
Lauer and NBC should focus on making Today a success and forget about re-booting the past. Make the show successful, and the messy departure of Ann Curry will be a distant memory.