When I started writing news articles for The Town Crier at Paul Revere Junior High School in 1978, our teacher emphasized the need to get sources on the record, especially for stories involving defamation. NBC News has failed to maintain this basic standard, as seen in a recent article by Chloe Melas, Courtney Kube, and Sarah Fitzpatrick, which claims that Fox News employee Pete Hegseth had drinking issues that caused concerns among colleagues. The article states that former colleagues felt the need to “babysit” him due to his drinking habits.
However, all the accusers in the article are unnamed, which raises doubts about their credibility. The article claims it is based on interviews with ten anonymous sources, yet none could come forward, which is suspicious. Current Fox employees may fear backlash, but former employees have no such concerns. This lack of accountability shows NBC's failure to adhere to basic journalism practices of using named sources.
Despite the claims made by unnamed informants, 15 current or former Fox News colleagues of Hegseth openly defended him, stating they never witnessed him being intoxicated on air. These colleagues publicly shared their support for Hegseth on social media. For instance, Kyle Becker stated he never saw signs of drunkenness in Hegseth, while Guy Benson, Dan Bongino, and Lisa Boothe echoed similar sentiments, calling the article false and malicious.
Additionally, Will Cain, who co-hosted with Hegseth, expressed his disbelief over the claims, urging NBC to put his name on record as a witness. Other supporters pointed out that they have known Hegseth for years without ever seeing him intoxicated or acting unprofessionally. Journalist John Nicosia suggested that if the allegations were true, there would have been gossip circulating in the media, particularly given the competitive nature of working at Fox News.
Throughout multiple interviews on Fox & Friends, the author notes that he never sensed any signs of intoxication from Hegseth and views him as a competent and professional individual. The article in question seems to misrepresent Hegseth's character based on unverified anonymous sources, which the author finds concerning. Overall, the article critiques NBC for its reliance on unnamed sources while highlighting the strong public defense from Hegseth’s colleagues.
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