Biting The Hand that Feeds You

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MSNBC’s Chris Hayes took a bold step in calling out his NBC bosses.

In the wake of allegations made by Ronan Farrow, in his new book Catch and Kill, claims that NBC had “slow-walked and then ultimately killed” Farrow’s reporting on Harvey Weinstein. The caution came in part, Farrow alleged, out of fear that similar accusations of harassment and abuse against NBC’s Matt Lauer would become public knowledge.

NBC management denies the alleged conspiracy of silence, Hayes noted. The network has called Farrow’s contention that its management knew of the allegations against Lauer, and was acting out of fear of exposure, “false and offensive.”

Hayes countered that NBC was following “the path of least resistance.” He compared the incident to the NBA’s recent decision to ban its players and management from criticizing the Chinese government. They are forbidden to express support of the protests in Hong Kong for business reasons. The corporate boat must not be rocked.

The Columbia Journalism Review’s Maria Bustillos writes that the fact that Hayes himself was choosing a different path in commenting on the Farrow story made this the most electrifying three minutes of MSNBC I’ve seen in many weeks of watching. It was not a rant. He aired each side of the question, and raised the incontrovertible fact that Ronan Farrow went on to publish his Weinstein story at the New Yorker and win a Pulitzer Prize for it.

You can watch Hayes take on his bosses below: