Exactly, and he is the managing editor of a network news division, not an actor. It’s not the same thing at all. Even the most charitable viewing of his storytelling leaves him in a very tough situation.
Who even watches the evening news anymore? I think he will be replaced. All news anchors are is a good voice, a friendly face and the ability to read a teleprompter. It won’t be difficult to find another to fill the seat.
I hope it was an honest mistake, but even an honest mistake can have grave repercussions in the news business. I can’t help but wonder if he was ever corrected or challenged by anyone else who was at the scene. You would think that over the years someone would have spoken to him or sent an email that said…‘er buddy, that’s not quite how it happened.’
The best excuse he can hang his hat on is that he apparently never repeated this story on his news broadcast…only in interviews, maybe a public event or two and on the Letterman Show, which is an entertainment venue. Does that make his mistake forgivable? I’m not sure.
I have no idea whether he will survive or not. I do hope he doesn’t. I’d like to see that we cal it what it is and hold him accountable instead of spinning it to something else and making excuses.
At this point, what difference does it make? It’s not like NBC News has any credibility left to lose.
I thought the statement he issued said he was just stepping aside for a few days? He referenced returning so perhaps he is just taking “shelter from the storm.” The thing that bothered me the most is that according to one of the men actually on the helicopter that was shot down, when he arrived he just asked them what happened and then flew off. But he never reported anything about their actual experience - which was actually news.
I am sure he is trying to return. His handlers probably suggested to let it cool down by stepping aside. The public is malleable, right?
No way both weren’t outright deceitful and he has lost his credibility. Don’t know if he will be removed as anchor but he should be IMO.
“Hillary “remembered” a whole drama about being under fire that never happened and she was forgiven.”
@AllThisIsNewToMe, So did Ronald Reagan. He stormed Normandy; he was there at the liberation of Auschwitz. Uhmm… no.
I’m not sure that that’s true. Wasn’t the story last week about him taking the soldier he met that day to the Rangers game broadcast on the news? I know I saw it somewhere but can’t recall if it was actually on his broadcast or not.
Again, not sure that can be totally accurate either. Otherwise, how would he have known this soldier and kept in touch through all the intervening years?
Tim Terpak (the soldier in question) was not involved in the helicopter crash. He was part of the ground forces that were providing security to the helicopters after they landed. That is how he and Williams met, and they have stayed in touch.
I don’t think there is anything at all about the story that doesn’t point to fabrication by Williams.
Yes, you’re right that he did tell the story about the Ranger game/soldier on his broadcast. I remember thinking, why wasn’t that episode ever covered on the news? (Because it did not happen?)
I agree with the many posters above, he has lost all credibility. A lie is a lie, not some mis-remembered factoid. He let his ego override the truth. Time for him to go.
The situation is of particular interest to me as he has a bit of an ongoing relationship with son’s university - parent of a 2013 graduate, graduation speaker, major donor wth naming rights on portion of new School of Communication building, etc. Awkward to say the least.
A soldier who was on board the Chinook with Williams was quoted as saying the aircraft took small arms fire, then recanted the next day. So it is plausible that one can misremember even such a traumatic event as being fired upon. I’d like to think the discrepancy is simply a case of “conflating” the aircraft, but his broadcast right after the incident describes the events accurately. Surely he has reviewed that original broadcast during the past 10 years. Is it possible no one pointed out the inaccuracies after the Letterman interview?
I’d like to see Richard Engel given a regular spot in the anchor chair. We see him dodging bullets almost every night on the the front lines. According to his bio on Wiki, his mother had doubts he would ever attend college due to his dyslexia. He graduated from Stanford, moved to Cairo, learned Arabic and took enormous risks as the invasion of Iraq unfolded. He has a passion for news and selfless demeanor that is rare in the network news business.
His daughter survived Peter Pan. He’ll probably survive this.
I do not consider these anchors to be real journalists frankly. In the old days of news reporting, he would have been fired. Nowadays it seems like these news programs are more about entertainment. I miss “The Newsroom.”
And MidwestDad beat me to it: “Does this mean his daughter really can’t fly?”
I don’ care much if he survives. I like Lester Holt much better.
As far as the misremembering, its possible that its not super-nefarious or calculated. I have a friend who I am sure embellishes stories, and I enjoy his company a lot because the likely embellishments are all crafted to make the stories funnier or sometimes more interesting. They’re never to aggrandize my friend himself.
In Willliam’s circumstances, if you start doing that, you’re skating onto thin ice. This is especially true in aspects of facts that embellish your balance of personal safety vs the “quest for truth”. The ice gets thinner when you’re paid a lot, and when you develop enemies in your own profession. When that happens, your natural supporters are willing to throw you under the bus rather than use their own standing to argue for you. His biggest problem is that the contradiction is coming from the military men who actually are in harm’s way.
If he goes, I will not miss his phraseology. He’ll be like “so many” other public figures.
I like Brian Williams. I’m not a fan of the new guy on ABC with the weird, plastic looking hair, David Muir. His hair is just… unnatural. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/07/world-news-ratings-muir-win-beats-nbc-nightly-news_n_5945536.html
The difference between a news anchor and a politician (or actor or anyone else), is that anchors get big money and fame for nothing except being believable. They don’t have to be smart or tough or creative…they merely have to convince us that what they are saying is true. And he’s lost that one requirement for the job.
Well, he is pretty funny. Maybe he’ll try his hand at stand up comedy 
At least 20 jars of dippety doo didn’t die for his hairstyle.