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TennPaGa wrote: Heard this story on NPR on the way home from work on Friday.

Brian Williams Criticized For Exaggerated Iraq Story

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

TennPaGa wrote: BTW, Stewart absolutely nails it.

On a couple of levels.

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/j3war ... e-veracity

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.

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.

Desert wrote:
People should really stop watching TV news, both network and cable.  It's just so bad.