Lauer is still calling it a controversy, even after Dr. Nancy Snyderman tried to set him straight. But the rest of this Today Show segment shows Lauer is finally getting it about Wakefield.
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Lauer’s hour-long Dateline report on Wakefield last August wasn’t TV journalism’s finest hour. The popular Today Show host stumbled through the story, and missed several opportunities to prove Wakefield wrong. Science blogger RangelMD put it best:
Even though he “confronted” Dr. Wakefield with several of the accusations of fraud and conflict of interest that are now well known in association with this case, Mr. Lauer appeared to be more than content with Dr. Wakefield’s minimalist denials and stonewalling. The entire interview can be summed up thus:
Mr. Lauer: “What do you say to those who accuse you being a fraud?”
Dr. Wakefield: “I’m not a fraud.”
Mr. Lauer: “Well, OK then.”
So it might just be that Lauer has something to prove. Stay tuned.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Sullivan // Jan 29, 2010 at 1:58 pm
The Dateline episode was not Matt Lauer’s “hardest hitting” effort.
I frankly find this clip on the Today Show to be weak. I hope Mr. Lauer keeps improving.
2 autblog // Jan 29, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I like the part where Wakefield looked in Lauer’s eyes and lied to him. Lauer now knows what a lie it was – that’s why he showed the clip. Nobody likes being made a fool of, especially egotistical TV personalities.
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