Q&A; WITH ANDREW LACK : Taking the Reins at NBC News

After Michael Gartner stepped down as president of NBC News in the wake of turmoil caused by the revelation that a truck crash on “Dateline NBC” had been staged, the network turned to a longtime CBS News producer, Andrew Lack, to take the reins.

In the month he’s been on the job, Lack has hired a new executive producer for “NBC Nightly News” and overhauled a prime-time newsmagazine in development.

In his new office, decorated with an eclectic variety of posters, sculptures and some of the 16 Emmys his news programs have earned, the 45-year-old Lack discussed the brave new world of profit-making broadcast news, his views about tabloid stories on newsmagazines and his thoughts about the possibility of taking on CNN.

Question: When you took the job, was it a daunting proposition?

Answer: There is a lot of responsibility that comes with being the president of a news division. It’s a serious role, and that was daunting. The other part of the job--which is essentially looking at the broadcasts that NBC News has in place, looking at (programming) ideas that are in development or should be in development, and talking to people who make these programs and getting a feel for the organization and the people here--that part is the fun part, that part is the exciting part.

Q: How many hours of newsmagazines are you being asked to produce? Do you see newsmagazines as the future of NBC News?

A: I would hope that NBC News will have as many hours of news-magazines in prime time as CBS and ABC. They currently each have four newsmagazines on the air; we’ll have two as of this spring. I have an idea for a third one, just a thought in my head, that we would be thinking about as a possible mid-season replacement for 1994. But I’ve got my hands full with moving “Dateline NBC” forward and concentrating now with (producer) Jeff Zucker and (anchors Katie Couric and Tom Brokaw) on the second (prime-time program).

I’m working in harmony, I hope, with my colleagues on the West Coast. What their needs will be in 1994 will depend on how successful I am introducing a second hour and how their prime-time schedule looks. It’s a collaborative arrangement; I can’t just shove news-hours onto the schedule.

Q: It seems that the broadcast newsmagazines are getting more tabloid in order to get a rating in prime time. How do you plan to deal with that issue on NBC’s newsmagazines?

A: It’s hard. It’s the toughest question, I think, for producers and programmers of news material in prime time. I’m going to try and work on more stories on our newsmagazines that you would say are definably not tabloid. And I hope the audience will follow us. But I worry that it’s going to be a tough sell.

Q: You mean to viewers?

A: Yes. I hope there’s some room in these hours for something more than--not that these issues aren’t important--but I hope there’s a little bit more room for something other than child abuse, sex abuse, some kind of spouse abuse, rape, incest, sodomy. These are compelling social issues that unfortunately are loose in the country. . . .

Q: But they’re also ratings-getters.

A: And they’re also ratings-getters. I don’t deny that. We’ve had it both ways. We can say this is serious social policy, and at the same time clearly the audience is there for them.

Q: How do you propose to get around this?

A: I’ve got some ideas. I don’t want to make any bold pronouncements, but we’re going to try to inject a little bit more intelligent dialogue in the prime-time hours. But it’s a very worrisome area, and it’s very easy to go for the latest rape trial.

Q: What do you think got “Dateline NBC” in trouble in the GM story--was it tabloid treatment and trying to get a rating with fiery pictures?

A: I think there was a thirst for picture that should have been balanced by a thirst for open disclosure. I have always believed in disclosure (to viewers). When these programs have had problems in the past, it generally has been because there was not a disclosure to viewers of something that compromised the journalistic point that was being made.

Q: Given the popularity and profitability of newsmagazines, where do news bureaus and traditional news-gathering fit in here at NBC News?

A: I think they are critically important to the life of the NBC news division--to all of the broadcast news divisions. “NBC Nightly News” is very healthy financially. It is certainly profitable and solidly so. There is no argument here that “Nightly News” is an albatross or overloaded or not the future--none whatsoever. Profitability doesn’t drive the argument, but it doesn’t mitigate against it, either. And, regardless of how much money it’s making, philosophically, “NBC Nightly News” remains a vital ingredient to the life of this news division, perhaps even the central ingredient.

Q: What are your plans for “NBC Nightly News”?

A: My first plan was just announced--finding an executive producer, Jeff Gralnick (the former vice president for special events at ABC News). . . . I think the newscast is editorially sound. All of the elements are there; they just need to be refined and improved. I don’t think our “America Closeup” segment is as strongly defined as it could be. I think the correspondents and their beats and what kind of airtime they’re getting each night is a disparate, disorganized issue at this point. The newscast has been in a transition period, and it hasn’t been able to pull itself together in a way that Gralnick now will be able to do.

Q: In recent years, NBC News cut bureaus and cut personnel. (NBC president) Robert Wright said during the search for a successor to Michael Gartner that NBC News will be getting additional resources now. Are we talking about some additional producers, or are we talking about millions more in the news budget?

A: I’ll have what I need to do the job. I haven’t looked at the budget yet with any specific requests in mind. But before I took the job, I said to Bob, “I don’t know yet what it’s going to entail because I haven’t been there yet, but I want to be assured that if I come to you and make what I think is an intelligent argument for where we need more help, that you’re going to respond positively.” The answer was, “You bet I will.” We’re not going to win every argument--that’s not the way any business works--but I expect we’ll win our share. I expect that we will be making more hires, and I’m certainly not being asked to cut the budget.

Q: NBC for many years has been using BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) correspondents through an arrangement with the BBC on stories such as the war in the former Yugoslavia. ABC and the BBC recently signed an agreement to share foreign-news coverage. What will be the impact of this agreement on NBC?

A: It’s not helpful. My understanding is that we’re no longer in a first position on the arrangement--ABC gets first call. We need to explore our options and find a place where we can be sure in our partnership arrangements that we’re getting quality material.

Q: Do you see newsmagazines supplanting traditional news-gathering at NBC?

A: No. I think our news-gathering operation can only get bigger and stronger because it will be feeding not only “Today” and “Nightly News” but also the prime-time broadcasts. All of the networks’ newsmagazines often lead now with, say, Waco or Bosnia, stories that are on the news. That relationship at NBC will get more intense.

Q: How do you plan to use the NBC News Channel (a 24-hour news service that supplies footage to NBC affiliates from a headquarters in North Carolina)?

A: I think the News Channel will be an important element in my plans. It would absolutely not mean cutbacks at NBC News. I’m thinking about ways that we can get more reporters and camera crews and maximize our coverage opportunities. The News Channel people have told me, for example, that they think they could make good use of an additional correspondent for NBC in Bosnia. If that would help us amortize our costs in coverage, that would be helpful to all of us.

Q: Do you have any thoughts of competing with Cable News Network?

A: Yes, I have lots of thoughts about that, although I have to emphasize these are just my thoughts at this point--not an announcement. I think all of the broadcast networks have taken a bit of a shot from CNN. CNN has gone to town making deals for coverage where we were concentrating on other areas of our business. I think CNN has done a very good job of getting the word out that when there’s a crisis, they have the news. But I don’t think they’ve done as good a job at programming their news. We’re producing news as well as gathering it. Why shouldn’t NBC or ABC or CBS News have a leg up in this area? . . . Part of the reason for cutbacks at the networks in recent years was that there was too much fat for too few outlets. . . . It’s up to us to find ways to program the news.