Four Paws Down for NBC News
One crisis I’ve been following for weeks surrounds Purina, one of the most well-known brands in the pet world. Allegations have surfaced that their popular Pro Plan dog food has led to the poisoning of several dogs, allegedly resulting in at least 10 deaths. My background in extensive reputation management within this industry, coupled with the recent loss of a beloved cat to poisoning, drew my immediate attention to a report published by NBC News.
I was struck by the lack of specifics (death certificates, experts on the record, etc.), Purina’s relative lack of forcefulness in its statement and the curious mention most of the way through a long article about how the people alleging the deaths are linked to selling products for other competing brands.
Um, hello?!? A massive conflict of interest is a serious red flag. Sadly, too many companies and individuals will use everything but the kitchen sink in trying to defend against attacks, but the credibility of the driving force behind the story is priority one for any reporter.
As weeks have passed, I waited to see if additional reports would come out with more evidence. It hasn’t. The only real update so far is from Snopes, a fairly reliable long-time debunker of hoaxes and conspiracies, which says they’ve asked for necropsies from the individuals making the allegations and haven’t heard back. Something smells fishy and I’m certain it’s not the pricey Purina Pro Plan LiveClear salmon and rice cat food that I buy in bulk.
From the outset, I felt like Purina was likely not liable here, and I’m now ready to move on, both as a consumer with a moderate concern and as a crisis management professional with an analyst’s eye. It’s tough amid journalism’s continued decline in personnel, but I have to put blame on the reporter at NBC News — and their editors — for greenlighting a story like this. This has always been an issue, reporters using a lazy excuse that “they’re just reporting and it’s for the public to make the decision.”
Most reporters/editors/producers will kill a story when they receive critical new facts, but some are dead set on reporting once their inner sense of righteousness has been breached. There’s no need to attack the so-called victims or whistleblowers, but a much higher standard of care was needed to vet the allegations (no pun intended) in this claim.
NBC is an awesome and very reliable legacy news outlet — not as great as it used to be, but still a beacon of truth in this horrible age of misinformation. But this story gets four paws down for sensationalist garbage reporting.
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