Not the nine o'clock news

[Gob]

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams dined at the last supper, fought in the American War of Independence and even landed on the moon – at least according to Twitter users.
After Williams was discovered to have falsely claimed to be on a helicopter shot down during the Iraq War, Twitter users seized the opportunity to ridicule the veteran broadcaster.
Using the hashtag #BrianWilliamsMisRemembers, Twitter users Photoshopped Williams into a number of historical photos and shared jokes about what other famous events he might claim to be a part of.

Drew McCoy @DrewMTips
Follow
".....And that's why my signature on the Declaration of Independence is so large."

#BrianWilliamsMisremembers

Mer ن @ItsMoi_Merry
Follow

So I told the rebels, maybe we should throw the tea overboard in Boston Harbor.

#BrianWilliamsMisremembers
11:35 AM - 5 Feb 2015

The Donosaur @DonHarris19
Follow

I thought that I got into a death fight with Predator, but it turns out that I went camping and saw a bunny.

#BrianWilliamsMisremembers

CamEdwards ✔ @CamEdwards
Follow

“And then I drew her like one of my French girls. It was incredible, right up until we hit that iceberg.”

#BrianWilliamsMisremembers

[BoSoxGal]

What a douche Brian Williams turned out to be. I trust no broadcast journalist - except Bill Moyers.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Ernie Pyle

[Lord Jim]

I used to like Williams okay, (particularly his sense of humor) until his horrendous interview with The Traitor Snowden....

He could have performed a great service for the public and exposed the scumbag for the lying cowardly piece of shit that he is, but instead he let the little shit go on and on without challenging his falsehoods. That interview ought to be shown in journalism classes as an arch type example of how not to conduct an interview.

A charitable interpretation of Williams' pratfall would be that he was completely unprepared; (which is of course inexcusable when interviewing such an infamous character; he should have been well prepped) An uncharitable interpretation would be that he deliberately set out to give the weasel a propaganda platform to make himself look good.

I trust no broadcast journalist - except Bill Moyers

Wow, there's also a journalist named Bill Moyers? What a coincidence...

There's a lefty POV hack who works for PBS with the same name...

Though I did like his interviews with Joseph Campbell...

I used to like Ted Koppel as an interviewer, but of those currently working today I'd have to say that Anderson Cooper is my favorite...

I'm sure he's probably a liberal, but he pulls no punches with his guests no matter where they are politically, he's always well prepared and he is a master of not letting slippery characters wriggle off the hook....

He'd have made mincemeat out of the traitor. Snowden probably knew this, which why he chose to give the interview to a light weight pretty-boy like Williams, rather than an actual journalist like Cooper...

Hell, even Erin Burnett would have done a better job. She took Julian Asswipeange apart and really exposed him for the self absorbed arrogant ass that he his.

[Joe Guy]

Does everyone agree that Brian Williams should be fired?

In one audio track I heard on the radio he said something like "We were hit.." Since he apparently was in one of four helicopters flying together and one of them was hit, couldn't he be talking about we as a group?

I don't know. I haven't heard much of a discussion about it yet so I very likely have bad or incomplete information.

[BoSoxGal]

I agree Jim, Anderson Cooper is good. I don't have access to him as I don't have TV. Maybe someday CNN will stream more than just clips.

I also liked Ted Koppel, and several of the older journalists who used to be on 60 Minutes. Peter Jennings was a liberal Canadian, but seemed to always present a fair perspective on events.

'News' has just morphed into something gross in the past two decades.

Bill Moyers is definitely liberal, but his journalism is extensively researched and very thorough. I disagree that he's a hack, by any stretch of the imagination. He's won multiple awards and not because of his personal political positions - he's a great journalist and recognized as such by many folks in the industry and out whose opinions are far less biased than yours.

[Lord Jim]

Peter Jennings was a liberal Canadian, but seemed to always present a fair perspective on events.

I also like Jennings; of the "Big Three" anchormen of his time, (him, Brokaw and Rather) I thought he was the best.

Does everyone agree that Brian Williams should be fired?

Well, it doesn't appear that he's even going to be suspended...

To give him a little credit, when the story from the pilot of the chopper that actually was shot down broke, he immediately apologized profusely and without reservation.

His explanation strikes me as somewhat disingenuous:

“You are absolutely right and I was wrong,” he wrote, adding that he had in fact been on the helicopter behind the one that had been hit. Constant viewing of the video showing him inspecting the impact area, he said, “and the fog of memory over 12 years — made me conflate the two, and I apologize.”

“This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and by extension our brave military men and women veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not,” Mr. Williams said. “I hope they know they have my greatest respect and also now my apology.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/busin ... .html?_r=0

How do you innocently "conflate" being in a helicopter that was shot down, and not being in a helicopter that was shot down? And there's also the fact that he's apparently been relating this story for years; it's not something that he just said once, 12 years later...

However, unless there's another shoe to drop, (and I'm sure there are reporters combing through his reports right now, looking for one) it appears that NBC is going to stand by him.

[Guinevere]

Does everyone agree that Brian Williams should be fired?

In one audio track I heard on the radio he said something like "We were hit.." Since he apparently was in one of four helicopters flying together and one of them was hit, couldn't he be talking about we as a group?

I don't know. I haven't heard much of a discussion about it yet so I very likely have bad or incomplete information.

I haven't paid much attention since I rarely if ever watch the "news" on TV. I just don't think of those guys as reporters/journalists - more like news readers. When was the last time Brian Williams actually did any active reporting? I certainly don't condone lying, but I also don't think any contribution of great value has been harmed.

Oh for the days of Uncle Walt, the greatest ever!

[Guinevere]

The best one yet:

[MajGenl.Meade]

Pinkerton looks suspicious tho'

[Long Run]

Maybe Comcast on Demand will stop running those overly-dramatic NBC News ads with Brian Williams droning on about how great he and NBC News are, and how great we can be if we just watch their news which is now On Demand. I guess the one good thing about those annoying ads is they encourage you to hurry up and make a selection.

[Lord Jim]

Maybe Comcast on Demand will stop running those overly-dramatic NBC News ads with Brian Williams droning on about how great he and NBC News are, and how great we can be if we just watch their news which is now On Demand. I guess the one good thing about those annoying ads is they encourage you to hurry up and make a selection.

That is exactly my reaction to those insipid, self-congratulatory ads...what over-blown puffery

And he reads them as though it's the first time he's seen the copy...

And what good is watching "The Nightly News" "on demand" anyway? Seems to defeat the whole purpose of "news"...

Is the target market people who think it would be great to get Monday's news on Thursday afternoon? Or does NBC think there's a bunch people out there who have been wishing they could spend Friday night binge watching Brian Williams newscasts from the preceding week?

[Guinevere]

I assume the nightly news is available on demand strictly to increase the number of programs available, so Comcast can trumpet its stats.

It's like reading the Sunday paper on Tuesday afternoon. If I don't get to it on Sunday, its worthless.

[Gob]

This guy is one of the BBC / UK's main news readers, me and Huw were mates at school.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huw_Edward ... rnalist%29

[Econoline]

I haven't paid much attention since I rarely if ever watch the "news" on TV. I just don't think of those guys as reporters/journalists - more like news readers. When was the last time Brian Williams actually did any active reporting? I certainly don't condone lying, but I also don't think any contribution of great value has been harmed.

Oh for the days of Uncle Walt, the greatest ever!

Word.

[Lord Jim]

Looks like NBC is keeping its options open:

Brian Williams taking himself off air temporarily

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Williams said he is temporarily stepping away from the "NBC Nightly News" amid questions about his memories of war coverage in Iraq, calling it "painfully apparent" that he has become a distracting news story.

In a memo Saturday to NBC News staff that was released by the network, the anchorman said that as managing editor of "NBC Nightly News" he is taking himself off the broadcast for several days. Weekend anchor Lester Holt will fill in, Williams said.

NBC News refused to comment Saturday on when or whether Williams would return and who would decide his future.

Williams, however, said he would be back.

"In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions," Williams said in his memo.

"Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us," he wrote.

NBC News President Deborah Turness said Friday that an internal investigation had been launched after questions arose over Williams' false on-air statements that he was in a helicopter hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while in Iraq in 2003. Williams apologized for those statements Wednesday.

There was no indication by Williams, who has anchored "NBC Nightly News" since 2004, that an absence was forthcoming during his newscast Friday. He signed off as he usually does, saying he hoped people would be back to see him Monday.

Holt did mention Williams' leave in Saturday's newscast.

"A word tonight about our colleague Brian Williams, who you may know has been under scrutiny this past week over his recollection of certain stories he's covered," Holt said before reading Williams' memo to viewers.

Since Williams' apology, questions also have been raised about his claim that he saw a body or bodies in the Hurricane Katrina floodwaters that hit New Orleans in 2005.

His remarks in a 2006 interview drew suspicion because there was relatively little flooding in New Orleans' French Quarter, the area where Williams was staying. A person at NBC confirmed that Williams stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, which is in an area where a news photographer and a law enforcement official said they saw bodies.

http://news.yahoo.com/brian-william-tak ... 07487.html

The network first just tried to ride it out and hope it would blow over, now they're trying this...

I suspect they will use the next "few days" of this "temporary" absence of Williams' to poll and focus group furiously to see what damage this episode will do to his ratings. (Before this erupted, he was number one among the three network broadcasts)

They'll also be gauging the attitude of advertisers. Ultimately whether Williams stays or goes will have little or nothing to do with journalism ethics and everything to do with the bottom line.

[Crackpot]

Personally I think this is a little blown out of proportion. The problem is he was telling a story that got mistaken for news. Fact is he was there. He was with the helicopter that was hit but he wasn't in the helicopter that was hit. For storytelling purposes he modified the immediacy to the events. it's the type of thing that we do all the time to avoid endless qualifications that are beside the point we are trying to convey. He didn't claim to be an integral part of "the action" merely an observer in the moment rather than from afar. He modified the events not to serve himself but to serve the story. The problem is as a Journalist Brian Williams doesn't really have that luxury (at least not in public).

In my opinion his apology was correct and timely he didn't make the excuses because he recognizes that as a Journalist he must be held to a higher standard. The rest of us must realize we are imposing a standard on him that we would not impose on ourselves and the nature of the infraction in question is really fucking trivial.

[Guinevere]

As usual, Maureen Dowd says it well:http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/op ... &referrer=

NBC executives were warned a year ago that Brian Williams was constantly inflating his biography. They were flummoxed over why the leading network anchor felt that he needed Hemingwayesque, bullets-whizzing-by flourishes to puff himself up, sometimes to the point where it was a joke in the news division.

But the caustic media big shots who once roamed the land were gone, and “there was no one around to pull his chain when he got too over-the-top,” as one NBC News reporter put it.

It seemed pathological because Williams already had the premier job, so why engage in résumé inflation? And you don’t get those jobs because of your derring-do.

Social media — the genre that helped make the TV evening news irrelevant by showing us that we don’t need someone to tell us every night what happened that day — was gutting the institution further.

Although Williams’s determination to wrap himself in others’ valor is indefensible, it seems almost redundant to gnaw on his bones, given the fact that the Internet has already taken down a much larger target: the long-ingrained automatic impulse to turn on the TV when news happens.

Although there was much chatter about the “revered” anchor and the “moral authority” of the networks, does anyone really feel that way anymore? Frothy morning shows long ago became the more important anchoring real estate, garnering more revenue and subsidizing the news division. One anchor exerted moral authority once and that was Walter Cronkite, because he risked his career to go on TV and tell the truth about the fact that we were losing the Vietnam War.

But TV news now is rife with cat, dog and baby videos, weather stories and narcissism. And even that fare caused trouble for Williams when he reported on a video of a pig saving a baby goat, admitting “we have no way of knowing if it’s real,” and then later had to explain that it wasn’t. The nightly news anchors are not figures of authority. They’re part of the entertainment, branding and cross-promotion business.

Which takes me back to my original post. Who cares, anyway. It's just more non-news "news."

[Crackpot]

Was all to hell

[BoSoxGal]

They should replace him with one of the many excellent female journalists on offer. I just recently started watching the PBS Newshour occasionally, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it is now anchored by all female reporters (except on the less-watched weekends).