Savannah Guthrie gets top billing every weekday morning when the “Today” show introduces its cast. In a sad development, disappearance The story of her 84-year-old mother made Guthrie herself a top story as well.
NBC’s morning show delivers news of which it is a part, a journalistic challenge made all the more acute by the conceit on which this television format has long been built: The live broadcast team is a family, of which viewers are a part every day. Guthrie has co-hosted the “Today” show since 2012.
The possible kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie from her home in Arizona last weekend was the lead story on the “Today” show every morning for the past week, as it was often on other newscasts.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain firmly focused on our friend,” Guthrie co-host Craig Melvin said. His partner was replaced this week by Shenelle Jones, who usually presents the fourth hour of the show.
Today’s coverage contrasted markedly with another news organization in the news last week: The Washington Post did not assign any of its reporters to cover the announcement that the newspaper Laying off a third of its employees.
For the most part, the “Today” show was relatively straightforward in its coverage, taking into account the fact that it affected someone its viewers “knew.” Devoted fans are also familiar with Guthrie’s mother, who has appeared on a few shows with her daughter over the years — segments that were replayed last week.
Melvin and Jones updated the story with daily developments with the help of Arizona reporter Liz Kreutz and law enforcement reporter Tom Winter. At times, the details came at a frustratingly slow pace. “We’re getting new information,” Winter said at one point. “Unfortunately, this is not really new information that can help advance the case.”
Instead of exaggerating it, the show appears to have covered the developments as if someone else was known — not the “Today” co-host’s mother, said Shelley Ross, a longtime “Today” show competitor as a former senior producer on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and later on the CBS morning show.
“They report it as patiently as they can without treating themselves,” Ross said. “They were very professional in their coverage. I thought it was exemplary and helpful.”
When Guthrie recorded a video message with her brother and sister, addressed to their mother and potential kidnappers, Al-Youm broadcast it in full. It was one indication of personal involvement, as other networks generally aired bits and pieces of the video, but Ross said it made for effective television. Today, she said, it appears she had asked for — and was taking advice from — experts on hostage situations.
The need to cover a story when the show is part of the news is no stranger to “Today” — or Guthrie. NBC left it up to her and Hoda Kotb to tell viewers in 2017 when Matt Lauer was ejected Because of “inappropriate sexual conduct” with a colleague.
Far from this week’s headlines, “Today” show colleague Jenna Bush Hager spoke about Guthrie’s religious faith, saying they are neighbors in New York City and often attend church together. Kotb, Guthrie’s co-anchor after Lauer was fired until she left the program last year, returned Friday for a story about how others in the news and entertainment industry, along with “Today” show viewers, showed their support.
“There is this feeling of helplessness,” she said.
Viewing a mogul as a “family member” returning home in a time of crisis may seem northern, but it is an apt metaphor in this case, said Robert Thompson, director of the Blair Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.
Network morning shows are the ultimate flexible format: A “Today” show host can report on a complex breaking news story one morning and dress up in a Halloween costume the next, Thompson said. Display sets are often designed so that it appears as if the viewer is looking into a living room.
“This is truly a ‘Today’ show that does exactly what the ‘Today’ show was designed to do three-quarters of a century ago,” Thompson said.
Guthrie’s absence was also noted Friday at the start of NBC’s coverage of the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. She was supposed to co-host the event with Terry Gannon, but she stayed in Arizona to be with her family and was replaced by Mary Carrillo. “She is sorely missed by everyone,” co-host Terry Gannon said.
Guthrie’s coverage on NBC made The Washington Post’s decision even clearer. With the troubled news outlet facing headwinds over the past few years, its management issued a decree that its own media reporters covering the news industry would no longer write about their stories. They stuck by that decision even as the major layoffs, which included eliminating the newspaper’s sports department, were widely covered elsewhere.
Instead, The Post’s website ran a story about its own ad written by the Associated Press.
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him on http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.