‘Dateline’ Staff Hopeful About Show’s Future : Television: NBC aims to rebuild the show’s respect in the wake of a highly critical report and the events leading up to it.

The day after the release of a highly critical report about “Dateline NBC,” staffers on the show were so busy putting together Tuesday night’s broadcast that most said they had not had time to read the 70-page analysis of the infamous rigging of a GM car-truck crash.

But co-anchor Stone Phillips expressed hope that the newsmagazine would be able to recover from the incident.

“I think the show has been tarnished by this; you cannot go on the air and read an apology the way that Jane (Pauley) and I did without taking a major hit in credibility,” Phillips said. “But as difficult as these past weeks have been, I believe that this program will turn the corner and come into its own.”

NBC President Bob Wright met with “Dateline” staffers on Monday and, according to those present, reassured them of the network’s commitment to the show, both financially and journalistically.

What happened in the story last year about the safety of General Motors trucks “was a very serious mistake,” Phillips said, reiterating the conclusion of Wright and the two attorneys who were hired by NBC to investigate the incident.

“The thirst for picture is always there in TV journalism,” he said, “but the people involved in the GM story were not vigilant about the facts. The actions that NBC has taken (in obtaining the resignations of executive producer Jeff Diamond, senior producer David Rummel and segment producer Robert Read) are significant, and I don’t think you can go much higher (in terms of blame) than the resignation of (NBC News President Michael Gartner).”

Taking over as executive producer of “Dateline NBC” today will be Neal Shapiro, who has spent the past 13 years at ABC News, most recently as a producer on “PrimeTime Live.” He previously worked as a producer on “World News Tonight” and “Nightline.”

Phillips, himself a former ABC correspondent, said that he hopes “Dateline NBC” will become more topical while continuing to do investigative pieces such as those done by reporter Brian Ross. He cited as an example of being topical the story scheduled for Tuesday night on the doctor who was killed at a Florida abortion clinic.

Phillips also acknowledged one frequent criticism of “Dateline NBC” from longtime NBC News producers: victims crying on the air. “That’s a formula--telling the story through a crying victim--that became predictable,” he said.

Ross, an award-winning investigative reporter, said Tuesday that the show can rebound if it sticks to good journalism.

“I do not feel personally tarnished by the incident, although all of us here have been saddened by what happened to some of our colleagues in this,” he said. “I think the audience will judge us every week by the kind of journalism we do. It sounds simplistic, but it’s really true: If we have good journalists running the show and we do sound stories, we’ll do OK.”

In the case of the GM report, Ross said, “The reporting on everything but the crash-test was solid, but, taken as a whole, the story was terribly, terribly flawed. “Nobody set out to rig a test, but I don’t think the producers realized how strong a story they already had, without the rigged test.”