Brian Williams - will he survive this?

katliamom
Fri, 20 Feb 2015 19:07:34 +0000

"There are many posts about how all BW does is read the news nicely and who really cares if he lies about himself and what happens in the field occasionally. "

Not MANY posts, marie, one. By me. And I certainly didn’t say that all BW does is read the news nicely. I said he is more of a figurehead than a journalist; I said he is largely a presenter of other people’s work. There have been many examples of far more egregious misrepresentations than what BW has done – downright fabrications of data! – by people who are still on the air. BW’s transgression is, in comparison, a tempest in a tea cup. So BW personal credibility is shot: you’re right, I won’t believe next time he says on the air that he was shot at. (Not that he’ll be telling personal stories on TV anytime soon.) But I have no reason not to believe him should he be presenting a seasoned reporter’s story on, say, the latest un-cease fire in the Ukraine. (Not that he’ll be presenting any stories on TV anytime soon, either.)

“People act as though news just falls into the teleprompter somehow.”

Again, marie, what people? show me a post that suggests this anywhere on CC. I dare you! You think most of us just fell of the turnip truck. News to marie! Even with his title of managing editor, BW does not decide what goes into the newscast ("into the teleprompter, as you so expertly put it) or how it’s presented. Those are decisions largely made by a whole coterie of behind-the-scenes producers, reporters and business people who gauge content based on current events, ratings, competitive advantage (or lack thereof) politics, ratings and politics again.

For someone who is supposedly amused by “people’s” inability to separate hysteria from news, you sure are holding tight and indignantly on to this BW grudge.