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2/10/2015 11:07 pm  #1


Brian Williams discharge

NBC News has discharged Brian Williams for six months without pay. Will he return then or ever?  NBC wants to give him a second chance but will it be as a newscaster or in another other position?  Lester Holt is a very qualified replacement and could end up as the permanent Evening News presenter.  Anybody but one of NBC's clowns from the Today Show!

 

2/11/2015 5:46 am  #2


Re: Brian Williams discharge

I don't personally wish bad things for Williams. But, I hope that he doesn't return.
Damn it, he betrayed the trust of the public. I just wish that there was somebody on TV that the people could count on to be honest and responsible.

Maybe there is so much distrust, vaccine deniers, climate deniers, etc because the media and government is loaded with so many hucksters. People don't know whom to trust.


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
 

2/11/2015 7:42 am  #3


Re: Brian Williams discharge

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.  ~Voltaire
 

Last edited by IntroVertigo (2/19/2015 7:59 am)


Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.  ~Voltaire
 

2/11/2015 9:09 am  #4


Re: Brian Williams discharge

Goose wrote:

I don't personally wish bad things for Williams. But, I hope that he doesn't return.
Damn it, he betrayed the trust of the public. I just wish that there was somebody on TV that the people could count on to be honest and responsible.

Maybe there is so much distrust, vaccine deniers, climate deniers, etc because the media and government is loaded with so many hucksters. People don't know whom to trust.

I agree that Williams shouldn't return. He's lost the faith of the public as a legit newsman. But I don't think anyone should be surprised. Williams was just as much a celebrity entertainer that a journalist. Whether he was "Slow Jamming the News on Jimmy Fallon, or appearing on NBC sitcoms, he seemed to want to be more than just the anchor and face of NBC News. 

And that's just stupid and shallow on his part. He gets paid a few million dollars a year to read the news. Isn't that enough? You know what my day is like if I'm the anchor of the Nightly News?

1) Read the news
2) Go home
3) Get drunk
4) Count my money

That said, I did come across this defense of Williams which I believe makes some very valid points around the corporitization of our media and it's general intertwining with our government and it's agenda.

Brian Williams will lose his job for giving us what we wanted to hear

....In a sense, then, Brian Williams’ problem is of his – and our – own creation, the flip side of the problem Chris Hayes dealt with when suggesting he wasn’t sure every single soldier was a hero. If reporting on troops is still a monoculture developed via government-approved embeds and nurtured by the shaming voices of other media who deem any skepticism about official narratives – or any impulse to evaluate combat and soldiery on an individual rather than collective basis – to be dangerously close to a stab-in-the back, then, for many, the only thing to do is to enlist, even temporarily.

Besides, moments of authentic skepticism will disappear down the memory hole for all but the castigated journalist torn apart for voicing them. Pat Tillman was celebrated at this year’s Super Bowl – held in his home state of Arizona – without anyone even re-reporting of his death via friendly fire and the orchestrated cover-up of the circumstances surrounding it. The same media aflutter about NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams’ helicopter ride fibs seems to have entirely forgotten that, in 2003, NBC aired the factually-indifferent TV movie Saving Jessica Lynch practically moments after her bandages came off.

The really dumb, pitiable thing about Brian Williams’ circumstance today is that he felt he had to do it at all – that his maleness or reportage or patriotism would be enhanced by it. But death doesn’t need a punch-up or rewrite.....

 


I think you're going to see a lot of different United States of America over the next three, four, or eight years. - President Donald J. Trump
 

2/11/2015 12:10 pm  #5


Re: Brian Williams discharge

What did Brian Williams do?


If you make yourself miserable trying to make others happy that means everyone is miserable.

-Me again

---------------------------------------------
 

2/11/2015 12:15 pm  #6


Re: Brian Williams discharge

He lied, repeatedy, about his experiences in Iraq, in the context of reporting news,,,,,,


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
 

2/11/2015 12:20 pm  #7


Re: Brian Williams discharge

Conspiracy Theory wrote:

What did Brian Williams do?

His account of being shot at while in an Army helicopter in Iraq, which he told multiple times, turned out to be, frankly, a lie. Or, being the most kind about, a very fabricated story.

That led to additional looks at some other stories he told while covering Katrina that turned out to be untrue as well.

Here's a article on what has transpired in the last 24 hours


I think you're going to see a lot of different United States of America over the next three, four, or eight years. - President Donald J. Trump
 

2/11/2015 12:55 pm  #8


Re: Brian Williams discharge

I hear of rumors Catie Curic is sniffing around for a job.  Please------NO, NO, NO!

     Thread Starter
 

2/11/2015 1:15 pm  #9


Re: Brian Williams discharge

While we are on the topic of honesty in reporting, how about this whopper:

"I tell you what, I've been in combat. I've seen it. I've been close to it. And if my unit is in danger and I got a captured guy and the guy knows where the enemy is and I'm looking him in the eye, the guy better tell me. That's all I'm gonna tell you. If it's life or death, he's going first."

Not to defend Williams, and maybe he should get canned, but who was quoted making the above statement, and how was it handled by his employer?  (It's a quiz question for fellow Exchangers)

Last edited by Just Fred (2/11/2015 1:16 pm)

 

2/11/2015 2:23 pm  #10


Re: Brian Williams discharge

Let me first state that I am no fan of liars. However, I just can't get that worked up over what Brian Williams said. My first reaction to the story when it came out was - "(snort) We get lied to all the time about important things that actually affect us, and people want to have a fit about a news guy telling embellished fishing tales. Please." I guess I find it sadly ironic that our "leaders" could lie us into a war, and I don't know of anyone involved that got 6 months unpaid leave, or even 6 hours for that matter. Fox news lies all the time. Politicians lie all the time. But apparently it only really matters if it's the news guy talking about his personal experiences? I find it strange that we hold our newscasters to higher standards than our lawmakers.
That being said, I still wish he wouldn't have embellished to make his experiences sound more exciting than they actually were.

 

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