Savannah Guthrie gets top billing every weekday morning when the 鈥淭oday鈥� show introduces its cast. In an anguishing twist, the of her 84-year-old mother has made Guthrie herself the top story, too.
NBC’s morning show is reporting news that it is part of, a journalistic challenge made more acute by the conceit that this television format has long been built upon: The on-air team is a family, one that viewers are part of each day. Guthrie has been co-host of 鈥淭oday鈥� since 2012.
The probable abduction of Nancy Guthrie from her Arizona home last weekend was the lead story on 鈥淭oday鈥� every morning this past week, as it often was on other newscasts.
鈥淥ur thoughts and our prayers remain firmly focused on our friend,鈥� said Craig Melvin, Guthrie’s co-host. His partner has been replaced this week by Sheinelle Jones, who typically anchors the show’s fourth hour.
The 鈥淭oday鈥� show coverage stood in marked contrast to another journalism institution in the news this past week: The Washington Post did not assign any of its reporters to cover the announcement that the newspaper was .
Viewers 鈥榢new鈥� Guthrie’s mom, too
For the most part, 鈥淭oday鈥� was relatively straightforward in its coverage, while mindful of the fact that it affected a person that its viewers 鈥渒new.鈥� Dedicated fans are also familiar with Guthrie’s mother, who has made a handful of appearances on the show with her daughter over the years 鈥� clips that were replayed this past week.
Melvin and Jones updated the story with each day’s developments, with the help of reporter Liz Kreutz in Arizona and Tom Winter, a law enforcement correspondent. At times, the details came at a frustratingly slow pace. 鈥淲e’re getting new information,鈥� Winter said at one point. 鈥淯nfortunately, it’s not really new information than can help advance the case.鈥�
Rather than overdoing it, the show seems to have covered the developments as they would if another well-known person 鈥� and not the mother of 鈥淭oday鈥檚 co-host 鈥� was involved, said Shelley Ross, a longtime 鈥漈oday鈥� competitor as former top producer at ABC鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning America鈥� and, later, CBS鈥� morning show.
鈥淭hey’re reporting it as stoically as possible without medicating themselves,鈥� Ross said. 鈥淭hey were very professional in their coverage. I think it was pitch-perfect and helpful.鈥�
When Guthrie recorded a video message with her brother and sister, addressed to their mother and potential kidnappers, 鈥淭oday鈥� aired it in full. That was one indication of the personal involvement 鈥� other networks generally aired bits and pieces of the video 鈥� but Ross argued that it made for effective television. 鈥淭oday鈥� seems to have sought 鈥� and was taking the advice 鈥� of experts in hostage situations, she said.
Another family member returns in time of crisis
The need to cover the story when the show was part of the news isn’t foreign to 鈥淭oday鈥� 鈥� or Guthrie. NBC left it to her and Hoda Kotb to tell viewers in 2017 when for 鈥渋nappropriate sexual behavior鈥� with a colleague.
Beyond this week’s headlines, 鈥淭oday鈥� colleague Jenna Bush Hager reported on Guthrie’s religious faith, saying they were neighbors in New York City who often attended church together. Kotb, Guthrie’s co-anchor after Lauer’s firing until she left the show last year, returned Friday for a story about how others in news and entertainment, along with 鈥淭oday鈥� viewers, had shown their support.
鈥淭here’s this helpless feeling,鈥� she said.
Viewing Kotb’s return as a 鈥渇amily member鈥� returning home at a time of crisis may seem schmaltzy, but it’s an apt metaphor in this case, said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University鈥檚 Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture.
Network morning shows are the ultimate fluid format: a 鈥淭oday鈥� host could report on a complex breaking news story one morning, and dress up in a Halloween costume the next, Thompson said. The show’s sets are often designed to make it appear like a viewer is looking into a living room.
鈥淭his is really the 鈥楾oday鈥� show doing exactly what the 鈥楾oday鈥� show was designed to do three-quarters of a century ago,鈥� Thompson said.
Guthrie’s absence was also noted Friday at the beginning of NBC’s coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. She was supposed to have co-hosted the event with Terry Gannon, but stayed in Arizona to be with her family and was replaced by Mary Carillo. 鈥淪he is dearly missed by everybody,鈥� said Terry Gannon, the co-host.
NBC’s Guthrie coverage made The Washington Post’s own decision more noticeable. With the troubled news outlet facing headwinds over the past few years, its management decreed that its own media reporters who cover the news industry not write about their own. They stuck with that decision even as the deep layoffs, which included eliminating the newspaper’s sports section, were widely covered elsewhere.
The Post’s website instead ran a story about its own announcement that was written by The Associated Press.
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and .
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