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NBC News admitted Wednesday an article about President Biden’s senior director for cyber policy donating to a pro-Israel lobbying group "fell short" of the Peacock Network's reporting standards after it was widely criticized and accused of having anti-Semitic implications.
The story by Ken Dilanian headlined, "Foundation linked to Biden pick for cybersecurity gave $500,000 to pro-Israel lobby AIPAC," reported that a family foundation linked to Anne Neuberger donated more than half a million dollars in recent years to the main pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. The report admitted that the donations "do not appear to pose a legal issue," but "some current and former national security officials told NBC News they risk creating the possible appearance of bias in favor of Israel by a top American official."
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NBC News admitted an article about President Biden’s senior director for cyber policy donating to a pro-Israel lobbying group "fell short" of Peacock Network reporting standards after it was widely criticized and accused of having anti-Semitic implications. (Brendan McDermid) (REUTERS)
The story was swiftly condemned as "a smear campaign against a Jewish woman" and AIPAC called it anti-Semitic.
".@NBCNews must retract this offensive story. Charges of dual loyalty are anti-Semitic and insult millions of Americans—Jewish & non-Jewish—who stand by our ally Israel. We will not be deterred from exercising our rights as citizens to advocate for a strong US-Israel relationship," AIPAC’s verified Twitter account wrote.
NBC News eventually took notice and moved the story to its archives, while adding an editor’s note admitting it didn’t meet journalistic standards.
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The original link to the story now features only the lengthy editor’s note.
"Earlier today, NBC News published an article reporting that a family foundation linked to President Joe Biden’s senior director for cyber policy on the White House National Security Council donated more than $500,000 in recent years to AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington," NBC News editor’s wrote.
"After a number of readers raised issues with this article, NBC News conducted a review and has determined that it fell short of our reporting standards. In order to warrant publication, it needed on-the-record quotes from critics, rather than anonymous ones," NBC News editors continued. "The article should have also included more views from those who believe that donations to AIPAC do not represent a conflict. And it did not give Neuberger adequate time to respond to our reporting. In the interest of transparency with our readers, NBC News has moved the original article to our archives, and it can be viewed here."
NBC News did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
The original story is still live on NBC News’ site with a different URL, as the network said it is leaving the story up "in the interest of full transparency with our readers."
The story cited anonymous officials who were concerned that someone who donated to a pro-Israel group would not be neutral.
"Two of the sources interviewed who know Neuberger say she is a person of high integrity. Nonetheless, installing a top cyber official in the White House who has strong ties to an organization that represents the interests of the Israeli government could cause some people to question the impartiality of the policy process, they said," Dilanian wrote.
Many critics slammed NBC News over the report:
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Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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