A high-profile figure is in the news because her elderly mother has gone missing. It’s been days since her disappearance, and authorities have no leads.
This storyline is ripe for NBC’s investigative news magazine “Dateline.” The major challenge, however, is that the subject is a network employee, Savannah Guthrie, and therein lies the issue.
Rob Shuter reported on his Naughty But Nice Substack that NBC is wrestling with “Dateline” coverage of Savannah Guthrie’s family crisis in the wake of her mother Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
This Is Not Just Another ‘Dateline’ Story
Citing a senior source, Shuter reports that the network is currently undergoing some “real soul-searching.” He reports that, behind the scenes, the thinking is that NBC’s “Dateline” has “the resources, the investigative muscle, and the credibility to help keep attention on the case.”
The issue, however, is whether such an effort comes off as exploitative?
“The last thing NBC wants is to look like it’s profiting off Savannah’s pain,” the separate source explained to Shuter. “That would be unforgivable.”
Nancy Guthrie, 84, went missing on Sunday, February 1. More than a week since she disappeared, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Sunday, February 8, that they still have “no suspects [or] persons of interest” in the case.
With the case dragging into its second week, the senior source tells Shuter how the network would approach coverage. For starters, Shuter reports that Savannah Guthrie would have to be comfortable with the idea.
The source tells Shuter that if an episode were to focus on Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, there would be “no flashy promos. No dramatic music. No sensational teases.”
“If it’s done, it would be respectful, fact-based, and approved at the highest level,” the source insisted to Shuter, a former executive editor at OK! magazine.
Savannah Guthrie ‘May Never Return’ as ‘Today’ Host
Savannah Guthrie, who has made public pleas for her mother’s safe return and agreed to pay the purported ransom, is, rightfully so, solely focused on her mother’s disappearance case. So much so, Savannah Guthrie was pulled out of NBC’s Olympics coverage two days after her mother was reported missing.
But in the wake of her mother’s disappearance, a source also previously told Shuter that if it “has anything to do with Savannah’s fame, she may never come back” to NBC.
“No job is worth risking your family,” the insider told Shuter.
The motive behind Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance remains unknown.
