NBC, Buzzfeed Partnership Raises Stink

NBCUniversal invested $400 million in BuzzFeed and the two companies have a “strategic partnership,” raising eyebrows about why the Peacock Network isn’t more transparent when covering the controversial website.

NBC News and MSNBC fawned over BuzzFeed’s now-debunked report claiming President Trump directed his former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress before the office of the special counsel released its rare statement.

A search of transcripts from both MSNBC and NBC News didn’t turn up any mention of the investment when the news organization covered BuzzFeed’s discredited bombshell. While transcripts aren’t always 100 percent accurate, it’s clear the relationship was not disclosed with any consistency.

“NBCU is indeed an investor and a great strategic partner, but I'm afraid you'd have to ask them about how and when they disclose that information,” A BuzzFeed spokesperson told Fox News.

NBC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall told Fox News that it should be “standard operating procedure that a media organization explain its financial interests and connections” in such a situation.

“Most news consumers would have no idea that BuzzFeed is supported financially by NBC,” McCall said. “Even with the news operations being editorially independent from each other, reporting by NBC/MSNBC of BuzzFeed content should be put in context, just so viewers can have full and transparent bases on which to assess the story.”