The fall of Brian Williams.
And six months for people to find more fibs and fables..

Will Brian Williams Get Away With 'Misremembering' a War Story? Well, Hillary Clinton Did

Reason.com takes me back..
Because in a nerdy political geek I recall vividly the argument about Hillary and this incident..

But to compare to Williams is not accurate. Journalists are expected to tell the truth. Politicians are known to misremember just about everything..

Will Brian Williams Get Away With 'Misremembering' a War Story? Well, Hillary Clinton Did

Maureen Dowd: NBC executives were warned a year ago that Brian Williams was constantly inflating his biography. They were flummoxed over why the leading network anchor felt that he needed Hemingwayesque, bullets-whizzing-by flourishes to puff himself up, sometimes to the point where it was a joke in the news division.

NBC THE CHIMES OF DOOM PLAY FOR BRIAN WILLIAMS

The NBC NEWS chimes of doom are famous.. when  they break into the television norm to tell of breaking news,  you know the world has changed in some way, whether small or large.. They sound, quite frankly, frightening. Especially for those who vividly recall things like 9/11, when the chimes were busy for days.. A memory recall for those not familiar with the doom-ish feeling that comes from hearing the NBC breaking news theme:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECq3NqluCaQ?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

Those chimes are playing for Brian Williams now.

It seems quite unlikely that Brian Williams will be able to continue news in the current environment. As we now have come to learn, Williams is taking a leave of absence from the NBC NEWS job, writing this:

In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions. “As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue. Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.”

His statement sounded complex.. It’s difficult to figure out if he’s done for good or just hoping some of the feeding frenzy lessens.
I don’t think it will..

People following Williams on Twitter already know that his entire Twitter feed vanished early on think ‘my helicopter took fire’ scandal.. Even further, Williams became associated with interesting comments about watching bodies float by him after Katrina–trouble was, he wasn’t in a place of New Orleans where that was happening. He also said he got sick from drinking flood waters.. But it does not appear other surrounding him recall that vividly..

I ponder to myself if Williams just wants to fantasize about these tall tales as a way of giving himself more street cred? Drum up the news and include himself in there so he seems more trustworthy. Get into the action, and if the action doesn’t find you, just pretend it did.

Any return to the news, this age, won’t work.. You don’t have to look too far in the past to realize how truth often begins to slowly leak out and then sooner or later floodgates are broken. And the levees fail. In Williams’ case, even with NBC NEWS deleting his entire online history, there’s enough history in other places. Bill Cosby wanted to be ‘memed’ online. Instead he was maimed and his life turned upside down when this generation found out that the previous generation ignored rape claims for various women.

People will scour through every bit of public record for other flaws in Williams’ character. And when that starts to happen, undoubtedly even the cleanest person will become tarnished with some mistruth and consequence..

This is a lesson: Be honest. Be good. Be real.
People love real. And quite frankly, I think human beings are becoming a little better adapted at figuring out who is real and who isn’t..
Except on this one. Brian Williams had me fooled..

Did he commit a crime? No. Did he do something unforgivable? Not really. But did he include himself and brag about things that never occurred? Yes. And in doing so, he may very well have destroyed his career..

Maureen Dowd: NBC executives were warned a year ago that Brian Williams was constantly inflating his biography. They were flummoxed over why the leading network anchor felt that he needed Hemingwayesque, bullets-whizzing-by flourishes to puff himself up, sometimes to the point where it was a joke in the news division.

This is not good..

Not only the pilot story false.. but now questions are mounting concerning about Brian Williams’ memories of Katrina..

I wrote previously of how Brian Williams had the best voice for news. But apparently he also had the ego for it too..

Tall tales from the  various places he has been are now becoming subject to quite a bit of investigation. Even Brokaw wants him gone.

Meanwhile Brian Williams’ twitter account is barren…

Snoopin' Snowden: He was a spy before he was a leaker.

NBC News’ Brian Williams scored a major interview when he landed Edward Snowden.. the ads have been nonstop on all of the NBC stations for the event—it is an event and truly important that Americans get to see and hear what Snowden is about, and why he says he did what he did in revealing some of the deepest secrets from the spy underbelly ..

On that same note, he apparently also told Brian Williams that he was not just a low-level contractor as the American media (and government) has previously said.. 

According to Snowden, he was trained as a spy and worked under cover for the US’s biggest alphabet agencies..  

The wide-ranging interview will air on NBC Wednesday at 10pm.

It should be something watched by the entire nation..

This is a big ouch. NBC has canceled Brian Williams’ ROCK CENTER.

Sources at NBC News say Williams was angered that Burbank execs did not give the show the promised promotion, while plans to expand it to multiple weekly airings have been abandoned

Well I guess so.

And DATELINE survives?
Rock Center is so much better.

YOU KNOW IT'S BIG...

…WHEN BRIAN WILLIAMS DOES WEEKENDS…

The website parapolitical with a great example in the form of an image of our modern day news media:

… we expect the press to provide transparency and accountability to the people to whom governments are ultimately accountable so people are well-informed …

- Barack Obama extols the enlightened role the press play in American civic discourse (2006)

Freedom of Press: the founding myth of financial democratic politics?

 How true this all is.. One day in the life of media coverage of events.. and this occurs.

The big websites all following to the minute the updates from the Royal wedding—I got a few news alerts yesterday that the news alert writers should be ashamed of. Even more, I got an breaking news alert on my phone that the Royal palace last night ordered dozens of pizzas, delivered to the privileged few by London police.

I respect Brian Williams and NBC NIGHTLY NEWS a bit more, though.. at least he turned the jet around and they became the only news network to do on the ground and all-around good reporting on the calamity in the South..

But this CNN snippet—of a real screenshot of a day in the news—is very telling of how far our celebrity culture has been intertwined with news of the day..

Once again, tip of the coal rake to parapoliticalfor some good image for thought.