Looks like another major news anchor is going down (1 Viewer)

[Yankee23Fan]

This was an episode in The Newsroom, wasn't it?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The best one yet

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Brian-Williams-Tupac.jpg

Well, that explains the rapping.

 

[The General]

He's getting suspended for 6 months without pay. Going to be weird when he comes back.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Are they sending him to a reeducation camp?

 

[Gary Coal Man]

He's getting suspended for 6 months without pay. Going to be weird when he comes back.

The suspension seems odd. Either you think that the audience will no longer trust him in which case you fire him, or you don't think his the audience's view of his trustworthiness in presenting the news is compromised in which case you do nothing. Giving such a long suspension just reinforces the idea that Williams is guilty of chronic lying, and the audience will remember that and consider it upon his return.

 

[avoiding injuries]

He can't come back. Something will happen in the next 6 months, likely Williams taking another position behind the camera.

 

[Mario Kart]

I think his next job is going to be at FOX News.

 

[PatsWillWin]

Won't come back IMO.

 

[shadyridr]

Now they are picking apart his Katrina coverage. I think hes going down.

 

[The General]

He's getting suspended for 6 months without pay. Going to be weird when he comes back.

The suspension seems odd. Either you think that the audience will no longer trust him in which case you fire him, or you don't think his the audience's view of his trustworthiness in presenting the news is compromised in which case you do nothing. Giving such a long suspension just reinforces the idea that Williams is guilty of chronic lying, and the audience will remember that and consider it upon his return.

Yeah. I'm going with the "he's not coming back" thinking. Will host a news talk show or something down the road.

 

[McGarnicle]

Wow, maybe I should stop being so cynical. I didn't think much would come of this. I guess American journalistic integrity is alive and well!!!!!!

 

[Apple Jack]

Yeah. I'm going with the "he's not coming back" thinking. Will host a news talk show or something down the road.

katiecouricville

Definitely has the vibe of he's done but they want to limit the humiliation as much as possible.

 

[PatsWillWin]

All kinds of stories of his are coming out that sound funny now that you look at it. Not sure if these have already been posted.

The evolution of his puppy-saving story as a volunteer firefighter

“I remember one such house fire . . . conducting a search on my hands and knees, when I felt something warm, squishy and furry on the floor of a closet,” Williams said. “I instinctively tucked it in my coat. When I got outside, I saw two small eyes staring up at me, and I returned the 3-week-old and very scared puppy to its grateful owners,” he said.

But in July 2005, he told a different story, insisting he had saved not one but two pups from certain death.

“All I ever did as a volunteer fireman was once save two puppies,” he said, according to Esquire magazine.

 

[PatsWillWin]

Williams told another story about getting held up at gunpoint while volunteering selling Christmas trees for the local church back in the 70's.

Link

RED BANK – A long-time borough restaurateur doesn't believe embattled NBC anchorman Brian Williams's claim that he was robbed at gunpoint in Red Bank sometime in the late '70s while selling Christmas trees from the back of a truck.

"To be robbed in front of a church? Red Bank just wasn't like that," said Daniel Murphy Jr., 71, who owns Danny's Steakhouse and has lived in the borough since his family moved there in 1949. "It was the kind of town where as a kid I'd leave the house in the morning and not come back until 8, 9 o'clock at night and you never worried about safety."

Murphy was responding to interviews given by Williams in which he described being held up at gunpoint as a teenager while selling Christmas trees to help a church. In a 2008 interview with New Jersey Monthly magazine, Williams described the incident:

"I even sold Christmas trees out of the back of a truck in Red Bank. That wasn't a bad job, until a guy came up and stuck a .38-caliber pistol in my face and made me hand over all the money. Merry Christmas, right? Of course, I suddenly appreciated the other jobs I thought I hated." He told a similar story in a 2005 interview with Esquire, relating how he found himself "looking up at a thug's snub-nosed .38 while selling Christmas trees out of the back of a truck."

Murphy said he found it strange that Williams would remember the specific caliber of the pistol that the anchorman says was used to rob him. Williams claims the incident happened at West Front Street and Riverside Avenue in the borough.

Hot topic: Was Brian Williams lying?

"Today I shoot, but when I was a teenager, if someone had pointed a gun at me, I wouldn't have known what kind of gun it was," Murphy said. "Those were police-issued at the time. How would you know what caliber it was?"

Murphy said such a crime would have been huge news in then-sleepy Red Bank.

Brian Williams' credibility questioned

"To be robbed in front of a church like that, it would have been in the Register," Murphy said, referring to the Red Bank Register newspaper, which went out of business in the late 1980s. Red Bank Police Chief Darren McConnell said in an email yesterday that it would be very difficult to try to find any record of an armed robbery in Red Bank from the 1970s without knowing the month and year that the crime allegedly took place.

The police department's records from those years are on microfilm.

Williams, who grew up in Middletown and graduated in 1977 from Mater Dei Prep in the township, took himself off the nightly newscast on Feb. 7 amid a furor over his falsely claiming that a helicopter in which he was a passenger was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the Iraq war in 2003.

Last week, Williams apologized on the air for repeatedly telling the story. In online comments, he said that constant viewing of video showing him inspecting the damaged helicopter "and the fog of memory over 12 years, made me conflate the two, and I apologize."

Brian Williams on Mater Dei

Since Williams' false claims about the helicopter came to light, the anchorman's previous statements have been closely scrutinized for discrepancies. His claims about seeing a dead body floating past the Ritz-Carlton on the edge of the French Quarter during Hurricane Katrina struck have been questioned by some because flooding in the area was not as severe as in other parts of the city.

And did the anchorman actually save a puppy -- or possibly two puppies -- while he was a volunteer firefighter for Middletown's Old Village Fire Co.?

"All I ever did as a volunteer fireman was once save two puppies," Williams remembered in the 2005 Esquire interview. He told a slightly different tale to USA Today in 2011.

"I remember one such house fire — the structure was fully involved with flames and smoke. I was wearing a breathing apparatus, conducting a search on my hands and knees, when I felt something warm, squishy and furry on the floor of a closet," Williams said. "I instinctively tucked it in my coat. When I got outside, I saw two small eyes staring up at me, and I returned the 3-week-old (and very scared) puppy to its grateful owners."

No one at the Old Village Fire Co. was available to discuss Williams' time with the fire company. Former Fire Chief Bruce George, who was Williams' captain at the firehouse, still lives in the township.

But a woman who answered the phone at George's home, who said she was his wife, said her husband would not comment on Williams' time with the fire company because it might upset him. "We all love him and we all support him," she said of Williams.

Jean Mikle: (732) 643-4050, jmikle@app.com

Staff Writer Andrew Ford and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

 

[PatsWillWin]

And the woman who managed the Ritz that Williams was staying at has refuted his "body floating" story and the part about "gangs roaming the halls." Apparently the NOPD had set up a command center at the Ritz, so the idea that gangs were roaming the halls is a little far-fetched.

Link

 

[Tom Servo]

I think his next job is going to be at MSNBC.

Fyp

 

[avoiding injuries]

Couldn't have happened to a more pretentious person.

 

[Apple Jack]

Couldn't have happened to a more pretentious person.

 

[Eephus]

Couldn't have happened to a more pretentious person.

Has Gwyneth Paltrow been to Iraq?

 

[Al O'Pecia]

Williams has released a statement stating that he plans on using the next few months to work on his slow jam album.

 

[Apple Jack]

Williams has released a statement stating that he plans on using the next few months to work on his slow jam album.

A track for each day's news.

 

[avoiding injuries]

Anyone remember when NBC Dateline ran the story about GM trucks exploding bc of the gas tank being outside of the frame? Then GM got a tip that the investigation was rigged, found the trucks, and exposed NBC for lying. They discovered that NBC used flammable rockets to explode, and nothing was wrong with the design of the truck.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vEkc_DlvN9Y

Dateline issued a 3 and half minute on-air apology the next day (although I can't find that video)

If that happened today, would NBC survive it?

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Laughable. Trust?? We continue to re-elect politicians that have lied over and over and over. This is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Rayderr]

Laughable. Trust?? We continue to re-elect politicians that have lied over and over and over. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Yeah, but that politician is on their team!

 

[Rayderr]

https://polination.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/lyin-brian-beheaded.jpg

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

All kinds of stories of his are coming out that sound funny now that you look at it. Not sure if these have already been posted.

The evolution of his puppy-saving story as a volunteer firefighter

“I remember one such house fire . . . conducting a search on my hands and knees, when I felt something warm, squishy and furry on the floor of a closet,” Williams said. “I instinctively tucked it in my coat. When I got outside, I saw two small eyes staring up at me, and I returned the 3-week-old and very scared puppy to its grateful owners,” he said.

But in July 2005, he told a different story, insisting he had saved not one but two pups from certain death.

“All I ever did as a volunteer fireman was once save two puppies,” he said, according to Esquire magazine.

Three week old puppies are usually with their mother and litter mates. Surprised there was no mention of the maternal reunion. No matter. Brian Williams probably milked his own breasts to nourish the un-weaned welp.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

I understand about misremembering events. After watching the movie Hackers I misremembered it as me having engaged in a twisted and fetishistic relationship with Angelina Jolie. And I still bear the scar on my knee from when John Rambo knocked me off of my dirt bike and used it to escape Sherriff Will Teasle, at least that's how I remember it.

 

[otello]

Won't come back IMO.

 

[eoMMan]

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing got a little blown out of proportion?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Anyone remember when NBC Dateline ran the story about GM trucks exploding bc of the gas tank being outside of the frame? Then GM got a tip that the investigation was rigged, found the trucks, and exposed NBC for lying. They discovered that NBC used flammable rockets to explode, and nothing was wrong with the design of the truck.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vEkc_DlvN9Y

Dateline issued a 3 and half minute on-air apology the next day (although I can't find that video)

If that happened today, would NBC survive it?

This might be why this is so bad.

We have no idea what kind of false crap we are sold, every day. And I think the networks think that's ok, the only problem is when the veil is lifted and a face and a name is put with the deception.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing got a little blown out of proportion?

Nope I'm with you, and I think we can all agree that I would be part of the demographic that has no use for network news. Still though, this is just moronic.

 

[Hang 10]

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing got a little blown out of proportion?

Nope I'm with you, and I think we can all agree that I would be part of the demographic that has no use for network news. Still though, this is just moronic.

I can maybe see how you could make the case that he should be allowed to stay if it was just the one story but with the questionable past stories coming to light, this appears to be a pattern. At this point it might be more difficult to find a story by Williams that doesn't wreak of bull####.

 

[Jack White]

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing got a little blown out of proportion?

Nope I'm with you, and I think we can all agree that I would be part of the demographic that has no use for network news. Still though, this is just moronic.

I can maybe see how you could make the case that he should be allowed to stay if it was just the one story but with the questionable past stories coming to light, this appears to be a pattern. At this point it might be more difficult to find a story by Williams that doesn't wreak of bull####.

Just checking in to remind everyone that it's his job to lie. He's a "news" reader for the state.

It's no more surprising than when a heroin addict loads up a fresh needle on a Wednesday night.

 

[jonessed]

I think NBC knows he's been doing this for awhile and is trying to get away from him to avoid being under the house of cards when it falls. There's no way he gets dropped for just the Iraq issue.

 

[Gary Coal Man]

Yeah. I'm going with the "he's not coming back" thinking. Will host a news talk show or something down the road.

Brian Williams Reportedly Lobbied to Host The Tonight Show

February 10th, 2015

According to two separate reports today, Brian Williams lobbied to get the Tonight Show gig after Jay Leno was set to leave. Yes, Williams, a regular late night guest, who has joined the current Tonight Show host in multiple slow jam sessions, apparently considered jumping into the late night fray.

New York Magazine‘s Gabriel Sherman reported earlier today that NBC insiders said Williams “wants to be a late-night comedian” and was lobbying to replace Leno.

Another report, from New York Times‘ Emily Steel, contained the same revelation. The link currently redirects to a story about Williams’ suspension from NBC News (which yes, is happening), but based on these tweets, it contained the same revelations:

The Jon Stewart news comes just as @emilysteel uncovered that Brian Williams sought to replace Leno, at one stage: http://t.co/tEr6rXUM1f

— Ravi Somaiya (@ravisomaiya) February 11, 2015

You may joke about Brian Williams taking over the Daily Show, but @emilysteel reveals he wanted to succeed Jay Leno! http://t.co/KaC3Pisr7a

— Tim Gatt (@TimGatt) February 11, 2015

Meanwhile…Brian Williams told NBC execs 5 years ago he wanted to replace Jay Leno. They told him he was crazy. http://t.co/Bhs4I1670U

— Ben Bergman (@thebenbergman) February 11, 2015

LINK

 

[avoiding injuries]

He wanted to be a celebrity so bad.

 

[Zow]

Dan Rather

the post above says:

"Dan Rather"

he'd rather do what?

 

[TheIronSheik]

So Brian Williams is taking over for Jon Stewart?

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Ok yeah, screw this guy. I'm gonna get my pitchfork......

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

So Brian Williams is taking over for Jon Stewart?

I think he would do better as a character actor. With LLoyd Bridges and Leslie Neilson out of the game there is a void to be filled.

 

[Tom Servo]

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing got a little blown out of proportion?

Nope I'm with you, and I think we can all agree that I would be part of the demographic that has no use for network news. Still though, this is just moronic.

I can maybe see how you could make the case that he should be allowed to stay if it was just the one story but with the questionable past stories coming to light, this appears to be a pattern. At this point it might be more difficult to find a story by Williams that doesn't wreak of bull####.

Just checking in to remind everyone that it's his job to lie. He's a "news" reader for the state.

It's no more surprising than when a heroin addict loads up a fresh needle on a Wednesday night.

The One-Trick Pony just performed its one trick...again.

 

[avoiding injuries]

So Brian Williams is taking over for Jon Stewart?

No. Jon Stewart is taking over for Williams.

 

[Jack White]

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing got a little blown out of proportion?

Nope I'm with you, and I think we can all agree that I would be part of the demographic that has no use for network news. Still though, this is just moronic.

I can maybe see how you could make the case that he should be allowed to stay if it was just the one story but with the questionable past stories coming to light, this appears to be a pattern. At this point it might be more difficult to find a story by Williams that doesn't wreak of bull####.

Just checking in to remind everyone that it's his job to lie. He's a "news" reader for the state.

It's no more surprising than when a heroin addict loads up a fresh needle on a Wednesday night.

The One-Trick Pony just performed its one trick...again.

If you don't agree, why not counter the point instead of resorting to name calling?

I offer my honest take on whatever the topic is, whether it's fantasy football, hot babes, ketchup, ISIS or lying news readers.

Yes, I critize the state and defend freedom, but I rarely if ever insult others who post here.

I'm not interested in sparring with you or anyone else in a battle of petty name calling. I'm only interested in stating my opinions on topics that interest me.

 

[Rayderr]

So Brian Williams is taking over for Jon Stewart?

You know Comedy Central would love for that to happen.

 

[Tom Servo]

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing got a little blown out of proportion?

Nope I'm with you, and I think we can all agree that I would be part of the demographic that has no use for network news. Still though, this is just moronic.

I can maybe see how you could make the case that he should be allowed to stay if it was just the one story but with the questionable past stories coming to light, this appears to be a pattern. At this point it might be more difficult to find a story by Williams that doesn't wreak of bull####.

Just checking in to remind everyone that it's his job to lie. He's a "news" reader for the state.

It's no more surprising than when a heroin addict loads up a fresh needle on a Wednesday night.

The One-Trick Pony just performed its one trick...again.

If you don't agree, why not counter the point instead of resorting to name calling?

I offer my honest take on whatever the topic is, whether it's fantasy football, hot babes, ketchup, ISIS or lying news readers.

Yes, I critize the state and defend freedom, but I rarely if ever insult others who post here.

I'm not interested in sparring with you or anyone else in a battle of petty name calling. I'm only interested in stating my opinions on topics that interest me.

I didn't say I agreed or disagreed. It's your Ron Hoek-esque one note song of extreme libertarianism gets old after a very short time period.

 

[Jack White]

NBC's internal email on the Brian Williams suspension:

Frog: "Deborah Turness (NBCUniversal)"

Date: Tue, Feb 10, 2015 at 4:48 PM -0800

Subject: Brian Williams

To: "@NBC Uni NBC News All"

All,

We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately. We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News.

Our review, which is being led by Richard Esposito working closely with NBCUniversal General Counsel Kim Harris, is ongoing, but I think it is important to take you through our thought process in coming to this decision.

While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position.

In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field.

As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times.

Steve Burke, Pat Fili and I came to this decision together. We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work Brian has done and the special relationship he has forged with our viewers over 22 years. Millions of Americans have turned to him every day, and he has been an important and well-respected part of our organization.

As I’m sure you understand, this was a very hard decision. Certainly there will be those who disagree. But we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action.

This has been a difficult time. But NBC News is bigger than this moment. You work so hard and dedicate yourselves each and every day to the important work of bringing trusted, credible news to our audience. Because of you, your loyalty, your dedication, NBC News is an organization we can – and should - all be proud of. We will get through this together.

Steve Burke asked me to share the following message.

“This has been a painful period for all concerned and we appreciate your patience while we gathered the available facts. By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate. Brian’s life’s work is delivering the news. I know Brian loves his country, NBC News and his colleagues. He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him. Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone’s trust.”

Deborah

 

[Rayderr]

So, so done.

What else has NBC News dug up on Brian Williams? Brian Williams' future at NBC News may hinge on just how many other examples of exaggerations and fibs are found.The network's internal fact-checking investigation is "nowhere near done," a senior NBC source said Thursday.


It has widened beyond just Williams' initial errors about a 2003 Iraq War mission to include other possible misstatements, but the network has not commented on any particular ones.

When he apologized last week for his on-air error about the Iraq mission, he chalked it up to innocent "misremembering." But others have implied something more malicious.

On Thursday The Huffington Post identified questions about Williams' claims of flying into Baghdad with SEAL Team 6 and about "war memorabilia the anchor claims to have received as gifts, including a Navy SEAL's knife and a piece of the helicopter from the raid that killed Osama bin Laden."

CNN analyst Peter Bergen said on "Anderson Cooper 360" that he was told by sources in the Seal community that it would be impossible for Williams to have ever traveled with Seal Team 6.

"We do not embed journalists with any elements of that unit ... bottom line -- no," one Special Operations Command official said.

In the case of the memorabilia that Williams says he received from "his friends" in the Seal community: "that doesn't pass any sniff test," another Seal officer told Bergen.

A spokeswoman for NBC News declined to comment.

Williams' exaggerations about Iraq and subsequent questions about his accounts of Hurricane Katrina have triggered a full-blown crisis of confidence inside NBC News. (The scrutiny about Katrina is particularly significant.) Williams was suspended on Tuesday for six months without pay, and may never return to his "NBC Nightly News" anchor chair.

The suspension had an ominous feel to it -- a sense, expressed by many media analysts, that there are more examples out there of the anchor embellishing the truth.

"We have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field," NBC News president Deborah Turness said in announcing the suspension.

Media accounts have concentrated more on Williams' misstatements than the apparent lack of executive oversight. (His appearances on late-night shows, for example, were set up by public relations people and supported by NBC management.)

Meanwhile, Williams -- who is bound by the terms of his contract -- isn't allowed to speak without the network's approval, and the network isn't giving him that approval right now.

As NBC's fact-checking continues, two accounts from Williams' younger days could also invite scrutiny.

As a reporter for WCBS-TV in New York in 1989, Williams traveled to Berlin to cover the demolition of the Berlin Wall. The assignment has become an omnipresent line in his various biographies, and Williams himself has identified it as a career highlight.

"I've been so fortunate," he said during a 2008 forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. "I was at the Brandenburg Gate the night the wall came down."

Williams did indeed witness some of the wall's physical removal. But "the night the wall came down" is widely recognized as November 9, 1989, an iconic date with particular significance to Williams' "Nightly News" predecessor Tom Brokaw.

Brokaw was famously the only American anchorman to report live from the scene on that historic day, an accomplishment that NBC News has proudly trumpeted for years. It was a defining moment for Brokaw.

And Williams has, to be sure, consistently credited Brokaw and NBC for having a jump on the story. In a 2004 interview, Williams said he "arrived at the Berlin Wall a day after -- more like 12 hours after -- Tom Brokaw did."

"But I got there, and I have my own piece of the wall, my own piece of that memory that I'll always hold tight to," he added.

Other times, Williams has arguably conflated his experience with that of Brokaw's.

"Here's a fact: 25 years ago tonight, Tom Brokaw and I were at the Berlin Wall," Williams said at a gala held on November 8, 2014.

At the same event, where Brokaw was honored by the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, Williams cracked that he was "very pissed off 'cause Tom had arrived [in Berlin] first" while "everyone else in journalism" was racing to catch a flight from New York to Berlin.

"So by the second night of the story, we were all there," Williams added.

An NBC News source in a position to know confirmed to CNNMoney that "Brian arrived the day after the wall came down."

In public settings, Williams has also discussed another brush with history that occurred a decade before the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a student at Catholic University, Williams was at the school when Pope John Paul II spoke at the Washington, D.C. campus in 1979. The anchor's account of the papal visit has varied over the years.

In 2002, Williams was quoted as saying that he chipped in with the school's preparations as an employee in the campus public relations office.

"I was there during the visit of the pope," Williams said.

If he had any interaction with the pope, Williams didn't mention it then. But that changed in 2004, a year before the death of Pope John Paul II. While delivering the commencement address at Catholic University that year, Williams said the "highlight" of his time at the school "was in this very doorway, shaking hands with the Holy Father during his visit to this campus."

After reporting the news of the pope's death in 2005, Williams said on-air that he was "thinking back to the first time I met him at Catholic University, I guess it's 25 years ago now."

Days later, Williams provided a more colorful version of his meeting.

"I have to begin with a beautiful day in 1979," Williams said in an interview published by NBC News. "I was a student at Catholic University, and over the course of two hours, chatted up a Secret Service agent who spilled like a cup of coffee and told me that the pope would be coming our way, straight up the steps of a side door at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I positioned myself and held out my hand and said, 'Welcome to Catholic University, Holy Father.' And he embraced my hand with both of his, made the sign of the cross, and said a blessing to me."

The same year, he told Esquire he met the pope simply by being in the right place at the right time -- not thanks to a chatty Secret Service agent.

The holes in these accounts may seem small. Up until a week ago, most people wouldn't have given them a second thought. That they're even getting brought up speaks to the depth of this calamity.

Representatives for NBC News repeatedly declined to comment on the stories.

The head of NBC's in-house investigation is Richard Esposito, the senior executive producer of the news division's investigative unit. The general counsel of NBC's parent company, NBCUniversal, is also involved.

Many media critics have raised eyebrows about NBC's decision to appoint one of its own investigative producers, rather than an outsider, to look into Williams' claims.

At one point early in the process, Esposito provided his bosses with the names of several other people who could conduct an external investigation, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

An NBC executive, speaking anonymously, said these names were meant to be recommendations in case the probe expanded and required additional resources.

On Thursday another NBC source said a third-party investigator may, in fact, become involved, but that no final decisions have been made.

Brian Stelter contributed reporting.

 

[Jack White]

Brian Williams: Member Of Media Circle Jerk

[SIZE=15.8400001525879px]By Ilana Mercer [/SIZE]
Facts are a journalist’s stock-in-trade. He cannot be cavalier about the truth. Nevertheless, Brian Williams, the suspended iconic managing editor and anchor of NBC Nightly News, embellished liberally about events he covered in the course of a
limelight-seeking career.

As it transpires, Williams’ helicopter did not come under enemy fire in Iraq, in the early days of the war. Nor did his Ritz-Carlton hotel take on water during Hurricane Katrina, in 2005. The body he “witnessed” floating by that establishment would have had to be floating in a few inches of rain, the precipitation in the French Quarter. Neither did gangs “overrun” the Ritz-Carlton, nor dysentery inflict its guest, despite the story the intrepid Williams disgorged to the contrary.

The public has yet to receive a full accounting of Brian Williams’ journalistic transgressions, but the press is already riffing on the merits of Christian forgiveness. Who said Christianity isn’t invoked, occasionally, in the service of the progressive project?

A USA Today journalist minimized the gravity of Williams’ fibs. “Journalists have been known to occasionally exaggerate their exploits. … Williams' seemingly genial personality and likability could work in his favor,” he noodled. Another USA Today reporter, exposed by NewsBusters, attempted to coat Williams' self-serving fables with a scientific patina, by invoking Elizabeth Loftus’ research into the amalgam of influences that make-up "false memories." Democrat Clintonite Lanny Davis echoed the "false memories" meme.

Others in the “trade” proclaimed to be “rooting for Williams.” “There is no glee in watching a titan of journalism falls.” “A good person who made a big mistake,” vaporized Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. “I come not to praise Brian Williams, nor to bury him,” equivocated another. And it was boilerplate David Brooks to write as though with himself in mind (along the lines of, “What if the Williams fate befalls me?”). Prematurely, the New York Times’ neoconservative-cum-liberal columnist demanded forgiveness on behalf of Williams.

In mitigation—there’s been a great deal of that—Williams told tall tales not about the news, but about his imagined role in the dramas he covered. From the ethical perspective, Brian Williams’ reportage is not really tarnished by this petty self-aggrandizement; his character is.

Not for nothing have his colleagues, left and right, formed a protective barricade around Williams. With few exceptions, the media-complex within which Gilded Ones like Williams slither so effortlessly is mired in corruption—the kind this scribe did not encounter in the structurally more conservative Canadian industry. It is anathema in Europe too, I am told.

Conflict of interest is at every turn. Major anchors—the gifted and gorgeous Megyn Kelly too, sadly—beaver at sculpting a celebrity persona. They hangout on late-night shows. They hobnob with the hosts to curry favor with them, “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central being their professional Shangri-La.

Over and over again do the celebrity journos, then, relive their moments of glory with their own fans, holding out hope for the next invitation. Lovingly—self-love being the operative word—do they track their media appearances from their respective network seats. The better-looking flaunt their assets over fashion spreads in high-gloss magazines.

Almost all—your favorite opinionators, too—attend the annual Sycophant’s Supper, where they cozy up to Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé Knowles. (Kudos to the few, such as former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, who've excoriated the anannual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, or who've refused to attend, irrespective of the political affiliation of the man ensconced in the White House.)

The annual White House Sycophants’ Dinner is where the most pretentious people in the country—in politics, journalism and entertainment—convene to revel in their ability to petition and curry favor with one another, usually to the detriment of the rest of us in Rome’s provinces.

Those gathered at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, or its Christmas party, are not the country’s natural aristocracy, but its authentic Idiocracy. The events and the invited say a great deal about the press, its ethics and code of conduct.

Like nothing else, the Sycophant’s Supper is a mark of a corrupt politics and press, as the un-watchful dogs of the media have no business frolicking with the president and his minions. This co-optation, however, is the hallmark of the celebrity press, in general. The days following these glitzy events, the Gilded Ones spend genuflecting to … themselves.

What else? Celebrity journalists marry their sources and hop right back into their roles as reporters. Their colleagues in thiscircle jerk are none the wiser. Examples: CNN and ABC’s Claire Shipman who wed Obama press secretary Jay Carney. Campbell Brown, formerly of CNN, is hitched to Romney adviser Dan Senor. “Meet the Press’” Chuck Todd is married to and gives an occasional shout-out to Democratic strategist Kristian Denny Todd.

The presstitutes straddle the fleshpots of D.C. with the skill of a Department of Justice that bestrides the roles of defender in court of the Infernal Revenue Service, as well as the agency charged with investigating the tax collector. All of them ride us like the asses we are.

No better than the lobbyists and the politicians they petition, the presstitutes move seamlessly between their roles as activists, experts and anchors; publishers and authors; talkers and product peddlers; pinups and pontificators.

To wit, former White House press secretary Dana Perino is also editorial director of Crown Forum, the country’s foremost “conservative” print, where she supervises the further "Closing of the American Mind," to use Allan Bloom’s famous title.

Oblivious to a conflict of interest, Megyn Kelly promotes husband Douglas Brunt’s books from her perch at Fox News. In the same vein, CNN’s Brooke Baldwin entertained Cousin Sgt. Charlie Mink as her self-styled expert on prisoner interrogation in Iraq. On the same network, Suzette Malveaux (law professor) is legal expert of choice to Suzanne Malveaux (anchor). The two are twin sisters.

The list and nature of the professional incest is long.

Vanity, not veracity; narcissism, not integrity: These are the tools of the trade among America's celebrity journalists.

Now please lead me to the Vomitorium.

Contributor Ilana Mercer is a paleolibertarian writer, based in the U.S. She is a contributor to Junge Freiheit, a German weekly of excellence, and is a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies. Her latest book is “Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons For America From Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Her website is www.IlanaMercer.com. Follow her on Twitter. “Friend”her on Facebook.

 

[Guest]

Brian Williams: Member Of Media Circle Jerk

By Ilana Mercer

Facts are a journalists stock-in-trade. He cannot be cavalier about the truth. Nevertheless, Brian Williams, the suspended iconic managing editor and anchor of NBC Nightly News, embellished liberally about events he covered in the course of a

limelight-seeking career.

As it transpires, Williams helicopter did not come under enemy fire in Iraq, in the early days of the war. Nor did his Ritz-Carlton hotel take on water during Hurricane Katrina, in 2005. The body he witnessed floating by that establishment would have had to be floating in a few inches of rain, the precipitation in the French Quarter. Neither did gangs overrun the Ritz-Carlton, nor dysentery inflict its guest, despite the story the intrepid Williams disgorged to the contrary.

The public has yet to receive a full accounting of Brian Williams journalistic transgressions, but the press is already riffing on the merits of Christian forgiveness. Who said Christianity isnt invoked, occasionally, in the service of the progressive project?

A USA Today journalist minimized the gravity of Williams fibs. Journalists have been known to occasionally exaggerate their exploits. Williams' seemingly genial personality and likability could work in his favor, he noodled. Another USA Today reporter, exposed by NewsBusters, attempted to coat Williams' self-serving fables with a scientific patina, by invoking Elizabeth Loftus research into the amalgam of influences that make-up "false memories." Democrat Clintonite Lanny Davis echoed the "false memories" meme.

Others in the trade proclaimed to be rooting for Williams. There is no glee in watching a titan of journalism falls. A good person who made a big mistake, vaporized Fox News Megyn Kelly. I come not to praise Brian Williams, nor to bury him, equivocated another. And it was boilerplate David Brooks to write as though with himself in mind (along the lines of, What if the Williams fate befalls me?). Prematurely, the New York Times neoconservative-cum-liberal columnist demanded forgiveness on behalf of Williams.

In mitigationtheres been a great deal of thatWilliams told tall tales not about the news, but about his imagined role in the dramas he covered. From the ethical perspective, Brian Williams reportage is not really tarnished by this petty self-aggrandizement; his character is.

Not for nothing have his colleagues, left and right, formed a protective barricade around Williams. With few exceptions, the media-complex within which Gilded Ones like Williams slither so effortlessly is mired in corruptionthe kind this scribe did not encounter in the structurally more conservative Canadian industry. It is anathema in Europe too, I am told.

Conflict of interest is at every turn. Major anchorsthe gifted and gorgeous Megyn Kelly too, sadly beaver at sculpting a celebrity persona. They hangout on late-night shows. They hobnob with the hosts to curry favor with them, The Daily Show on Comedy Central being their professional Shangri-La.

Over and over again do the celebrity journos, then, relive their moments of glory with their own fans, holding out hope for the next invitation. Lovinglyself-love being the operative worddo they track their media appearances from their respective network seats. The better-looking flaunt their assets over fashion spreads in high-gloss magazines.

Almost allyour favorite opinionators, tooattend the annual Sycophants Supper, where they cozy up to Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé Knowles. (Kudos to the few, such as former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, who've excoriated the anannual White House Correspondents Dinner, or who've refused to attend, irrespective of the political affiliation of the man ensconced in the White House.)

The annual White House Sycophants Dinner is where the most pretentious people in the countryin politics, journalism and entertainmentconvene to revel in their ability to petition and curry favor with one another, usually to the detriment of the rest of us in Romes provinces.

Those gathered at the White House Correspondents Dinner, or its Christmas party, are not the countrys natural aristocracy, but its authentic Idiocracy. The events and the invited say a great deal about the press, its ethics and code of conduct.

Like nothing else, the Sycophants Supper is a mark of a corrupt politics and press, as the un-watchful dogs of the media have no business frolicking with the president and his minions. This co-optation, however, is the hallmark of the celebrity press, in general. The days following these glitzy events, the Gilded Ones spend genuflecting to themselves.

What else? Celebrity journalists marry their sources and hop right back into their roles as reporters. Their colleagues in thiscircle jerk are none the wiser. Examples: CNN and ABCs Claire Shipman who wed Obama press secretary Jay Carney. Campbell Brown, formerly of CNN, is hitched to Romney adviser Dan Senor. Meet the Press Chuck Todd is married to and gives an occasional shout-out to Democratic strategist Kristian Denny Todd.

The presstitutes straddle the fleshpots of D.C. with the skill of a Department of Justice that bestrides the roles of defender in court of the Infernal Revenue Service, as well as the agency charged with investigating the tax collector. All of them ride us like the asses we are.

No better than the lobbyists and the politicians they petition, the presstitutes move seamlessly between their roles as activists, experts and anchors; publishers and authors; talkers and product peddlers; pinups and pontificators.

To wit, former White House press secretary Dana Perino is also editorial director of Crown Forum, the countrys foremost conservative print, where she supervises the further "Closing of the American Mind," to use Allan Blooms famous title.

Oblivious to a conflict of interest, Megyn Kelly promotes husband Douglas Brunts books from her perch at Fox News. In the same vein, CNNs Brooke Baldwin entertained Cousin Sgt. Charlie Mink as her self-styled expert on prisoner interrogation in Iraq. On the same network, Suzette Malveaux (law professor) is legal expert of choice to Suzanne Malveaux (anchor). The two are twin sisters.

The list and nature of the professional incest is long.

Vanity, not veracity; narcissism, not integrity: These are the tools of the trade among America's celebrity journalists.

Now please lead me to the Vomitorium. Contributor Ilana Mercer is a paleolibertarian writer, based in the U.S. She is a contributor to Junge Freiheit, a German weekly of excellence, and is a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies. Her latest book is Into the Cannibals Pot: Lessons For America From Post-Apartheid South Africa. Her website is www.IlanaMercer.com. Follow her on Twitter. Friendher on Facebook.

I read "Megyn Kelly" and "beaver" in the same sentence, and I was out.

 

[Jack White]

A Sanctimonious Defense of Brian Williams


By Chris Rossini

One of the many BS-ers at The NY Times (David Brooks), tries to come to the rescue of one of the many BS-ers in mainstream media (Brian Williams).

Brooks's go-to move is to try to appeal to emotions. He constantly seeks to present government and The Empire in a morally positive light. That's his schtick.

His piece on Brian Williams is titled: "The Act of Rigorous Forgiving". So you can see what I mean. He tries to take the pious route when it comes to defending government and its apologists, of which Brian Williams is a part of.

Brooks writes:

The barbaric part is the way we respond to scandal these days. When somebody violates a public trust, we try to purge and ostracize him. A sort of coliseum culture takes over, leaving no place for mercy. By now, the script is familiar: Some famous person does something wrong. The Internet, the most impersonal of mediums, erupts with contempt and mockery. The offender issues a paltry half-apology, which only inflames the public more. The pounding cry for resignation builds until capitulation comes. Public passion is spent and the spotlight moves on.
First of all, I want to point out the the Internet is a very personal medium. It connects people with other people like no other tool in history. Whether it be companies connecting with their customers, a reunification with friends that haven't been seen since childhood days, a husband meeting a wife, or the million other ways that people connect very personally, the Internet is not "the most impersonal of mediums". It's only because one of Brooks's guys came under fire that he's now demeaning the Internet.

What about the 364 other days in the year, when David Brooks is urging the "coliseum culture" to favor whatever barbaric thing The State is up to at the time? Where does "public passion" belong then?

Well, here's the pious and "rigorously forgiving" Brooks when it comes to The Empire:

It’s frankly naïve to believe that the world’s problems can be conquered through conflict-free cooperation and that the menaces to civilization, whether in the form of Putin or Iran, can be simply not faced. It’s the utopian belief that politics and conflict are optional.
Brian Williams peddled the Iraq War (as well as other wars) with gusto. He even ripped off LewRockwell.com.

Brooks wants the "coliseum culture" to leave Williams alone, and direct its passions at the "menaces to civilization". Don't be naive by believing in "conflict-free cooperation." The State will tell you where to direct your angst.

What a swindle.