Does American Media World have a sexual misconduct culture?

This morning, NBC viewers learned of Matt Lauer’s dismissal—over sexual misconduct claims—from two of his former colleagues, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.

Guthrie, visibly shaken, said she had only learned of the allegations and subsequent firing moments before going on air. But she rose to the occasion. She told viewers she was heartbroken both for Lauer and for the woman who came forward. “We are grappling with a dilemma that so many people have faced these past few weeks,” she said. “How do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly and I don’t know the answer to that.”

It’s become an almost familiar dance, now. Powerful man accused of sexual misconduct; the women who love him, or who like him, or respect him, have to answer for what he did. As CNN’s Lisa France notes today, this is the third time in as many months that the public-facing women of media outlets have been the ones telling the public what their male colleagues have done. The same thing happened to Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King on CBS when Charlie Rose was let go, and to MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, when frequentMorning Joe contributor Mark Halperin got the axe.

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