NBC News on Thursday issued a strong statement of support for one of its reporters, Brandy Zadrozny, who was targeted in a segment on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
In the segment last night, Carlson and Darren Beattie, a former speechwriter to Donald Trump, talked of Zadrozny’s reporting, accusing her of trying to “ruin” the lives of supporters of the president by seeking out identifying information of anonymous Twitter users.
“Why would NBC News be doing something like this?” Carlson asked.
Zadrozny is an investigative reporter for the network who has been reporting on misinformation and QAnon conspiracy theories, particularly on social media platforms. Last week, she wrote on a story about what she described as an online network built around the president’s claim that the presidential election will be rigged.
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In a statement, NBC News said that Zadrozny “is relentlessly well-researched and sophisticated in her understanding of disinformation and conspiracy theories on the Internet and within some social media communities.”
“Fox News has chosen to smear Brandy. In so doing they have shamefully encouraged harassment and worse,” the network said. “Fortunately, any effort to intimidate Brandy is doomed to failure. NBC News couldn’t be prouder of Brandy, and we will continue to vigorously support her work.”
A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other journalists also came to her defense quickly after the segment aired. One colleague, Ben Collins, tweeted that she was “doing actual reporting, like using public records to confirm identities of people who create harassment campaigns.”
He wrote that Zadrozny had emailed Beattie about a story she was doing about his website, but “he spent the day tweeting retributively at her.”
In the segment, Beattie also said that Zadrozny was part of a group of journalists who were attempting to “crush the rebellion of the American people” against their “corrupt ruling class.”
Beattie left the White House in 2018 after CNN reported that he was a speaker at a 2016 conference that included white nationalists among the attendees. Beattie said that he had delivered “a stand-alone, academic talk titled ‘The Intelligentsia and the Right.’ I said nothing objectionable and stand by my remarks completely.”
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