NBC News anchor Brian Williams was not in a helicopter brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade - that much we know. Last night, Williams retracted and apologized for a story that he told last week about reporting in Iraq in 2003. But many journalists contend it did not clarify how he incorrectly recounted his own experiences. And some critics even say he lied. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik reports Williams's shifting tales have led to a self-inflicted wound.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Here's what Sam Roberts has to say about Brian Williams, who's the most-watched TV news anchor in America.
SAM ROBERTS: The only thing that a person like that has going for him is credibility and trust, and his credibility is now shot.
Indeed.
The NPR feature outlines how Williams's story has changed over the years.
What a maroon.
Or macaroon. A macaroon apparently has more substance.
I saw this report yesterday. It's sad, as I'd always considered Brian Williams to be one of the more insightful and even-handed news anchors. Unfortunate, as quite likely his career is over. I suppose he should have learned from Dan Rather's experience.
It's important to remember that people that go into show business often have extremely active imaginations and are hyper-emotional drama queens. That's what makes them good at what they do. They embellish and create characters that are entertaining to watch because reality is often boring and nobody watches boring.
Now consider that the news is show business and always has been.
Draw your own conclusions about all the other news reporters you see and what they are reporting.
craigr wrote:
It's important to remember that people that go into show business often have extremely active imaginations and are hyper-emotional drama queens. That's what makes them good at what they do. They embellish and create characters that are entertaining to watch because reality is often boring and nobody watches boring.
Now consider that the news is show business and always has been.
Draw your own conclusions about all the other news reporters you see and what they are reporting.
+1
"Men did not make the earth. It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property. Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds."
I was never crazy about watching Brian Williams, and usually wind up focusing on the placement of his nose and mouth on his face rather than listening, but now I just feel bad for the guy. I think he might actually be a "victim" of a memory illusion, and not an out-and-out liar.
I like Brian Williams. It's a shame that something kinda petty can ruin a career. However, a reputation for "misremembering" history is a lot to overcome in his particular line of work.
dualstow wrote:
I was never crazy about watching Brian Williams, and usually wind up focusing on the placement of his nose and mouth on his face rather than listening, but now I just feel bad for the guy. I think he might actually be a "victim" of a memory illusion, and not an out-and-out liar.
Me too. I find his crooked nose and mouth incredibly distracting. The closet I ever got to ever liking an anchor was Stuart Varney back when he was on CNN. After that, I quit watching MSM.
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
dualstow wrote:
I was never crazy about watching Brian Williams, and usually wind up focusing on the placement of his nose and mouth on his face rather than listening, but now I just feel bad for the guy. I think he might actually be a "victim" of a memory illusion, and not an out-and-out liar.
Funny that I never noticed anything about his nose. The only times I ever notice the physical features of a reporter, it's usually on Fox News and I'm not talking about Bill O'Reilly. (I wonder how much this has to do with them being the number one news network, but I digress).
As for the memory illusion thing, most war stories do tend to get inflated over time and I know from experience that ex-soldiers can start to believe them after telling them long enough, but then again the soldier wasn't sent there as a reporter to faithfully record the events as they were happening.
madbean wrote:
As for the memory illusion thing, most war stories do tend to get inflated over time and I know from experience that ex-soldiers can start to believe them after telling them long enough, but then again the soldier wasn't sent there as a reporter to faithfully record the events as they were happening.
Hillary Clinton, who is in hiding until she becomes the first female President, had similar memory lapses when she visited Bosnia years ago. She claimed that she had to run off of the tarmac under sniper fire when in reality she was posing for pictures.
Reub wrote:
Hillary Clinton, who is in hiding until she becomes the first female President, had similar memory lapses when she visited Bosnia years ago. She claimed that she had to run off of the tarmac under sniper fire when in reality she was posing for pictures.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/dec/01/Hillary-travel-first-lady/ wrote:Locked as she is in a tight race with Obama, who is relatively inexperienced in foreign affairs, there is big temptation for Clinton to inflate her assets, said Michael A. Genovese, director of the Institute for leadership Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
In the heat of the campaign, Genovese said, Clinton seems to have "overplayed her hand a bit."
Clinton’s recent misstatement about landing in Bosnia under sniper fire made the whole strategy backfire.
PolitiFact also found accuracy problems with Clinton’s claims that she brought peace to Northern Ireland and helped negotiate open borders for Kosovo refugees.
"In terms of real substance, the first lady seems not to have left many major footprints," said Genovese. "She wasn’t negotiating treaties. But she was discussing international events with international leaders."
And she was hammering her pet issues — children, women and health care.
"She was doing what she’s always done," Genovese said. "But she’s not going to change the world as a first lady."
Well, that's a hell of a lot more than Obama, either by actual deed or memory lapse!
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
I kinda feel sorry for the guy. It's not like all the rest of them have somehow avoided exaggerating things or simply outright making them up. I guess Brian Williams was just the unlucky guy who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar when everybody else was hiding the cookies they already stole behind their backs. This idea of the authoritative trustworthy newsman is a big joke. It's pure entertainment, and my impression is that people who really like Williams and his ilk are by and large those who derive satisfaction from being talked at by serious authoritative men who sound like they know what they're talking about and give off the impression that they are carrying the emotional burden of the story they are presenting so you don't have to.
Human behavior is economic behavior. The particulars may vary, but competition for limited resources remains a constant.
- CEO Nwabudike Morgan
I've heard the suggestion that John Stewart should take over for Brian Williams. It's mostly tongue-in-cheek but I'm thinking NBC should seriously consider it for two reasons.
1.) They'll probably win the ratings war in the evening news time slot.
2.) Although he tries to give the appearance of being fair by occasionally taking shots at liberals he's really in his element when he's making fun of conservatives and given NBC's slant towards things, that should fit right in.
madbean wrote:
I've heard the suggestion that John Stewart should take over for Brian Williams. It's mostly tongue-in-cheek but I'm thinking NBC should seriously consider it for two reasons.
1.) They'll probably win the ratings war in the evening news time slot.
2.) Although he tries to give the appearance of being fair by occasionally taking shots at liberals he's really in his element when he's making fun of conservatives and given NBC's slant towards things, that should fit right in.
You forgot the fact that he's one of the best sources of news on tv. Which isn't saying much, of course. But it's certainly pertinent.
"Men did not make the earth. It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property. Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds."
Yes. I've never cared much for BW. But this whole thing about the helicopter is laughable compared to what the media should be called out for.
"Men did not make the earth. It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property. Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds."
WiseOne wrote:
I saw this report yesterday. It's sad, as I'd always considered Brian Williams to be one of the more insightful and even-handed news anchors. Unfortunate, as quite likely his career is over. I suppose he should have learned from Dan Rather's experience.
This is not original with me, but it is true in my experience: Any time I read a news story about events of which I had first-hand knowledge, there were always errors in the story.
moda0306 wrote:
Yes. I've never cared much for BW. But this whole thing about the helicopter is laughable compared to what the media should be called out for.
I'm convinced the MSM and politicians have no sense of humor. I just realized they are WAY TOO SERIOUS.
Stewart freaks me out a bit for not acting his age.
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
They may all lie, but HE GOT CAUGHT. Fairly or not, he has been reduced to a punchline for late night TV jokes. He's toast. I don't see anyway he could ever return as the news anchor.
Trumpism is not a philosophy or a movement. It's a cult.
