Ronan Farrow is fearless. NBC News’ 28 year old wunderkind, who made headlines back in May for his Hollywood Reporter piece on his father Woody Allen, now contributes longform stories for Today and other NBC News programs. He hosted the short-lived MSNBC dayside program Ronan Farrow Daily from 2014 through February 2015.
This morning, Farrow reported on the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State, a facility “full of the deadliest, the most toxic material.” The facility itself is loaded with safety issues that he believes Americans need to be cognizant of. Here’s his 7 1/2 minute piece, an atypical amount of time devoted to an investigative report on the morning news show:
Farrow prides himself on bringing what he believes are underreported stories to the forefront. Earlier this month, he reported on the ways state voter ID laws could negatively affect voter turnout in some states. He has also looked at how college campuses handle sexual assault, and how Google has gotten itself involved in the fight against ISIS.
NBC News svp and executive in charge of Today Noah Oppenheim is a fan of Farrow’s investigative work, and is thrilled to have him reporting for Today. He said as much in an interview with Variety.
“It’s not what everyone does. It’s not what our competitors always do,”he noted. “But it goes way back to me as a viewer craving these kinds of stories. There’s so much B.S. out there in the media world. It’s nice to just have really well-reported truths and the time to get them right.” Farrow has “carved out a unique role contributing special investigative pieces, and we’re thrilled to provide a platform for his work on Today.”
But that’s not all for Farrow. He’s also working on a book that looks at how America funds foreign armies and the results that come from that funding. He spent a week in Kabul embedded with a Afghan warlord for that piece.
Ronan Farrow might not be sitting behind an anchor’s desk anymore, but he is determined to shine light on stories Americans need to be aware of, whether it’s in Kabul or Hanford, Washington.