The Brian Williams scandal has burst onto the public square through a feat of Internet accountability. After NBC Nightly News last week posted to Facebook a clip of the anchor reminiscing about having embedded with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, some Facebookers took issue with the particulars. Whereas Williams claimed that he was riding in a helicopter that was forced down after being hit by an RPG, others had a different recollection. “Sorry dude, I don’t remember you being on my aircraft. I do remember you walking up about an hour after we had landed to ask me what had happened,” wrote Lance Reynolds in a Facebook comment responding to the Williams segment. In issuing an on-air apology for his “mistake” in misremembering the circumstances of the March 2003 episode, Williams credited “some brave men and women in the air crews who were also in that desert” for debunking his set of facts. “I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft,” he said on Wednesday night’s “NBC Nightly News.”
I was watching NBC News Wednesday evening. I left the room for a moment, and came back about halfway through Williams’ mea culpa. I had NO idea what I was watching nor the backstory behind it. Turns out that I missed what’s turning into quite the little tempest in a teapot.
I neither know nor particularly care about Williams’ motives behind trumping up the story of his eventful helicopter ride in Iraq. Perhaps he was trying to build himself up, to add a little luster to his brand. One of America’s most trusted news anchors surviving a brush with death? What better way to let advertisers and viewers know that he’s “been there,” he’s come face to face with death and come back from the encounter unscathed. He’s been to the edge and back; nothing like adding a little gravitas to the brand, eh?
Perhaps Williams was just looking for stories he could use when trying to pick up women in bars in some of the lonelier corners of the world he’s covered?
We’ve all trumped up stories to make ourselves look better…but few of us have been in Williams’ position and taken advantage of our military to puff himself up. Does that make his dishonesty worse? I don’t have an answer to that.
Whatever the reason may be, the fact that he’s maintained the charade over the past 12 years tells me it’s more than just a case of misremembering events. For a journalist whose brand is built on integrity and straight talking, this isn’t the sort of thing one easily comes back from. Puffing up a story in order to make it look as if you were in peril and survived being fired upon is not the sort of thing that will burnish a reporter’s credibility or reputation for integrity. It’s going to be interesting to observe how NBC News reacts to the Sturm und Drang surrounding their franchise quarterback. Will they address it directly? Or will they keep their collective head down and pray the storm blows out to sea soon?
Stay tuned….
