NBC Downsizing Moscow Bureau?

Following up on this morning’s post about ABC’s Moscow disbandment: “ABC isn’t the only network to close its Moscow bureau,” a tipster says. “NBC quietly shut its Moscow bureau and moved resources to Beijing.” (Remember last month’s announcement?) The tipster says Moscow-based correspondent Preston Mendenhall was let go: “He was on home leave when NBC called to tell him they weren’t renewing his contract.” Before joining NBC News, Mendenhall was a pioneering international correspondent for MSNBC.com. His bio is still online.

A second tipster sent a similar message this afternoon, saying “NBC has also packed up in Moscow. They’re still calling it a bureau but it is not and people have been let go.” The tips confirm an e-mail I received on June 29, which said: “The Moscow bureau was told to pack up today and is effectively being disbanned. They won’t call it that, but it’s exactly what they’re doing…”

> June 29: NBC’s Capus Won’t Close Bureaus, But He “May Move Some Resources Around”