Dateline NBC Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===General Motors vs. NBC=== {{further|Chevrolet C/K (third generation)#Sidesaddle fuel tank controversy}} On November 17, 1992, ''Dateline NBC'' aired an hour-long investigative report titled "Waiting to Explode," which focused on allegations that [[General Motors Corporation|General Motors]]' ''Rounded-Line'' [[Chevrolet C/K (third generation)#Sidesaddle fuel tank controversy|Chevrolet C/K]]-Series [[pickup truck]]s exploded upon impact when involved in collisions due to the poor design of the vehicle model's fuel tanks. ''Dateline''{{'}}s footage showed a sample of a low-speed accident in which the fuel tank exploded; the explosion during the crash test would later be discovered to have been staged by an expert witness for hire against GM, Bruce Enz of The Institute for Safety Analysis. Enz used [[incendiary device]]s and a poorly fitted gas cap to create the impression of a dangerous vehicle.<ref>{{cite news|title=Exposing the "Experts" Behind the Sexy Exposés: How Networks Get Duped by Dubious Advocates|author=Walter Olsen|newspaper=Washington Post|date=February 28, 1993}}</ref> The program did not disclose the fact that the accident was staged.<ref>{{cite web |last1=PARRISH |first1=MICHAEL |last2=NAUSS |first2=DONALD W. |title=NBC Admits It Rigged Crash, Settles GM Suit |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-10/news/mn-1335_1_gm-pickup |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=4 February 2019 |date=10 February 1993 |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108202725/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-10/news/mn-1335_1_gm-pickup |url-status=live }}</ref> GM hired investigators from [[Failure Analysis Associates]] (FaAA, now [[Exponent, Inc|Exponent]]) to study the footage; FaAA investigators discovered while reviewing the video that smoke had actually started to expel from the fuel tank six frames before the actual impact occurred. Acting on a tip from someone involved with the ''Dateline'' crash test, investigators with FaAA searched through 22 junkyards in [[Indiana]] before finding the charred wreckage of the GM pickups.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thriving on Failure|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1995/02/26/BUSINESS11495.dtl&ao=all|author=John Flinn|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=February 26, 1995|access-date=March 26, 2022|archive-date=March 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326161411/https://www.sfgate.com/hdn/hrlm/p/silent.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was also later revealed that the ''Dateline'' report had been dishonest about the fuel tanks rupturing and the alleged {{convert|30|mph|kph}} speed at which the collision was conducted. The actual speed was found to be higher than stated, around {{convert|40|mph|kph}}, and after [[Industrial radiography|x-ray]] examination of the fuel tanks from the C/K pickups used in the televised collision, it was found that they had not ruptured and were intact.<ref name="ReferenceJ">{{cite web |title=City's crash test spawns controversy |url=http://www.calahouston.org/crwnvic.html |publisher=www.calahouston.org |access-date=September 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820095952/http://www.calahouston.org/crwnvic.html |archive-date=August 20, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceK">{{cite web |title=Seeing Is Not Believing |url=http://www.exponent.com/NBC-DATELINE/ |publisher=www.exponent.com |access-date=September 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122072414/http://www.exponent.com/nbc-dateline/ |archive-date=January 22, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref> GM subsequently filed an anti-defamation/[[libel]] lawsuit against NBC after conducting an extensive investigation. On February 8, 1993, after announcing the lawsuit, GM conducted a highly publicized point-by-point rebuttal in the Product Exhibit Hall of the [[General Motors Building]] in [[Detroit]] that lasted nearly two hours.<ref>{{cite web |title=GM vs. NBC, a New Wave of Employee Pride |url=http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/GM_vs._NBC,_a_New_Wave_of_Employee_Pride |publisher=GMHeritageCenter |access-date=July 14, 2010 |archive-date=May 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527160655/http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/GM_vs._NBC,_a_New_Wave_of_Employee_Pride |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/gm-press-conf-1|title = GM Press Conference|date = February 8, 1993}}</ref> The General Motors lawsuit and the subsequent settlement were arguably the most devastating blows for NBC in a series of reputation damaging incidents during the 1990s and early 2000s. Within NBC, [[Michael Gartner]], who resigned under pressure shortly after the incident, was the source for much of the blame. NBC News President [[Reuven Frank]] stated Gartner was hired in 1988, despite having no background in television news, in an attempt to satisfy parent company [[General Electric]], by replacing current journalists with cheaper, less experienced reporters and producers.<ref>{{cite magazine|title='Dateline' Disaster|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html|author=Bruce Fretts|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=February 26, 1993|access-date=January 9, 2010|archive-date=July 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701024444/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to the resignation of the news division's president Gartner, three ''Dateline NBC'' producers were dismissed as a result of the incident and the findings of the resulting investigation: executive producer Jeff Diamond, senior producer David Rummel, and Robert Read, producer of the report on the pickups. Michele Gillen, the correspondent involved in the segment, was transferred to NBC's Miami [[owned-and-operated station]] [[WTVJ]], where she became an anchor of the station's evening newscasts. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page