[quote] Suddenly, stories about the palace intrigue at Meet the Press began appearing with suspicious frequency. By March 2014, only two months into Turness’s turnaround effort, rumors that Gregory was on the chopping block had gained so much traction that he asked NBC to respond and quell them.
[quote] “I cannot be more declarative about David—[he] is our guy, is going to be our guy, and we are really happy with him,” Turness’s top lieutenant told the Huffington Post.
[quote] But after that, the drums only beat louder. On April 20, the Washington Post reported that the Meet the Press research conducted back in 2013 to beef up Gregory’s personal narrative had included “commissioning a psychological consultant to interview [Gregory’s] friends and even his wife.”
“I cannot be more declarative about David—[he] is our guy, is going to be our guy, and we are really happy with him,” Turness’s top lieutenant told the Huffington Post.
But after that, the drums only beat louder. On April 20, the Washington Post reported that the Meet the Press research conducted back in 2013 to beef up Gregory’s personal narrative had included “commissioning a psychological consultant to interview [Gregory’s] friends and even his wife.”
[quote] Once again, Gregory demanded that NBC executives make a show of support, and Turness obliged. In a memo quickly leaked to media writers, she called the press reports “vindictive, personal and above all—untrue” and reiterated her “support for the show and for David, now and into the future, as we work together to evolve the format.”
[bold] Gregory was becoming a spectacle, and it was clear to him, friends say, that this was no accident—someone was planting these stories in the press to discredit him. The question was who. [/bold]
