February 11, 2015
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The controversy behind the suspension involves a statement Williams made on air that he was in a helicopter that had been hit by a grenade while reporting from Iraq in 2003. Although Williams’ words were false, his story took on a life and legs of its own and morphed through the years.
Williams described during an NBC News telecast how he was traveling in a group of helicopters forced down in the Iraq desert. Once on the ground, Williams said he learned the Chinook in front of him “had almost been blown out of the sky,” even showing a photo of it with a gash from a rocket-propelled grenade.
However, in a 2008 blog post, Williams said his helicopter had come under fire from what appeared to be Iraqi farmers with RPGs. He also said a helicopter in front of his had been hit.
Then, during a 2013 appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” Williams said that 2 of the 4 helicopters he was traveling with had been hit by ground fire “including the one I was in.”
None of this turned out to be true and Williams was forced to apologize for his embellishments. He expressed his regrets on air, speculating that constant viewing of the video showing him inspecting the damaged helicopter “and the fog of memory over 12 years, made me conflate the two, and I apologize.” End of story, right? Not so fast…
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Over the past several days as the story began to go viral and as honchos at NBC News believed trust issues with Williams could sink the network, Williams took himself off the air for a few days (temporarily replaced by Lester Holt), so as to not serve as a distraction or further embarrassment to the network. That seemed to be a good plan until last night, when NBC News decided to suspend Williams for 6 months without pay as they figure out their next move.
“By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News,” Steve Burke, President and CEO of NBCUniversal, said in a statement. “His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate. Brian’s life’s work is delivering the news. I know Brian loves his country, NBC News and his colleagues. He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him.”
Former president George W. Bush and his sidekick Dick Cheney lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction on every news channel imaginable. So, how does Brian Williams get punished for lying but they do not? This seems like an enormous double-standard.
For a generation of viewers who still watch a network nightly news program, are Brian Williams’ actions truly all that treasonous? Also, exactly how will a forced 6 month hiatus without pay help diffuse and repair the situation? Should Brian Williams be given a second chance for his actions from a few years ago, or should the network simply move on without him?
To say nothing of *Other* stories that Brian Williams may have "misremembered" (to the bolstering of his own image)….if not out-and-out LIED about..now being scrutinized. For example- his claims of having seen a body or bodies floating past him during his coverage of Katrina; and him and his camera crew being surrounded by (Black) gangs during Katrina. People who were actually in Nawlins at the time _and had first-hand knowledge of whether BW's Katrina claims were true are now stepping forward and saying that NO SUCH THING HAPPENED…in either case. At this point it appears that at best….BW has a chronic case of "misremembering" stuff that NEVER happened. At worst, he's the perfect example of what passes for Much of the so-called "News" reporting from American manstream and cable news media since, at least the Bush/Cheney administration LIED this country into an Unjust war against a nation of people who… Read more »