This is a pretty serious story, but just take a moment and realize that the evening news broadcasts across all networks have become pretty meaningless. Evening news shows have been hemorrhaging viewership for the past decade (and longer). These days, the news anchors are fighting over the senior citizen demographic, basically. And these days, NBC’s Brian Williams is being beaten in the ratings regularly by ABC’s David Muir (Muir is my mom’s favorite anchor, just FYI). And this story will not help.
On last night’s evening news broadcast, Brian Williams had to take a moment and set the record straight about a claim he made in 2003 – and continued to make since 2003 – about coming under fire while reporting in Iraq at the start of the Iraq War.
“NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams last night had to make the humiliating admission that he was not aboard a helicopter hit by RPG fire during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a false claim that he made and was repeated by the network for years.
Williams — who’d claimed he was in a chopper forced down by a rocket-propelled grenade 12 years ago — repeated the story on Friday’s newscast during a tribute for a retired sergeant major.
“The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq, when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG,” Williams said on Friday’s show. “Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded and kept alive by an armor-mechanized platoon from the US Army 3rd Infantry.”
He was busted when vet Lance Reynolds commented on the “Nightly News” Facebook page, where the clip was posted, “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.”
…Williams claimed on Facebook that he had confused events: “I spent much of the weekend thinking I’d gone crazy. I feel terrible about making this mistake.” Stars and Stripes, which broke the story, reported that a different Chinook was hit by rockets and “the NBC anchor was nowhere near that aircraft . . . Williams arrived in the area about an hour later on another helicopter.”
Stars and Stripes quotes people from the scene who recall NBC reporting that Williams was aboard the attacked chopper. Mike O’Keeffe, who was a gunner on the damaged Chinook, said, “I can’t believe he is still telling this false narrative.” Williams admitted on-air Wednesday, “I want to apologize . . . This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran.”
I’m including the video of his apology below. What do you think? Was it an honest mix-up in the heat of a war? Or was it something grosser and more sinister? I think there are two separate issues – one, Williams was trying to honor a military man that he knew, but instead of talking about the man’s accomplishments, Brian made the segment about what the guy had done for him (the reporter should never be the story, Brian). And in describing what the guy did for him, Brian repeated a lie that never should have been told in the first place. This is a HUGE disappointment. No lie. I really thought Williams was better than this.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
I thought he was better than this as well. Man, this is going to be baaaaddd
Well, at least now he’s coming under fire professionally and hopefully he’ll be fired. Poetic irony.
Can’t stand him. He always seemed cheesy, to me.
I try to like his daughter Allison on Girls but she’s annoying too.
Well at least we know he’s not the only one that lied about that war.
*claps* best comment
Shrillary got away for years with telling a similar “snipper fire” lie.
Hillary and the others on board were told to take care when exiting their plane because of sniper fire from the hills. Whether there was active gunfire at the exact time seems another example of quibbling to play gotcha!
Both Williams and Clinton were in dangerous areas and at risk. To me this petty nitpicking is stupid and political.
His helicopter pilot says he isn’t all that wrong and that their chopper was hit by fire.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/media/brian-williams-iraq/index.html
I’m in Australia, so don’t know who he is, but reading a couple of reports and watching the above video, I think he lied, plain and simple, to big himself up – and he got busted. His explanation of “trying to honour” another person was his way of saving face. How does one get “confused” about such an incident? He’d have known from the start it was a lie. He’s a dick.
I think it was a tall fish tale, and then maybe telling it so often, it became his memory. I doubt it had anything to do with honoring anyone but Brian Williams.
Indeed
Most of these guys lost all credibility with me when they failed to investigate 9/11. When they reported building 7 collapsing as if that were a logical and predictable thing. Sorry he may be attractive and likeable but he is less a reporter than he is an entertainer.
The fact this is just coming out now suggests he really pissed someone off and/or his shitty ratings make him vulnerable and the network needed an excuse to can his ass.
Shhhh……if we start questioning all the lies we are told people will begin to call you one of those crazy truthers.
Here here! And people think those of use who realize we’ve been lied to on a very grand scale “crazy”! It’s crazy that the majority of people just accept what lies they’re being told.
I don’t know, there are tons of things that can be stretched beyond the reality that you can start to believe to be the literal truth, and there are the things that are forever set in concrete in your mind.
Being shot at tends to fall into the second category. Hades, I can tell you each time I’ve just had a handgun pointed in my general direction, even the times it was ‘safe’ and just ‘stupid’ (hunting store, some moron kept muzzle swiping everyone with an unloaded rifle. I still made him cry AND marched him over to his wife to have her take over the yelling for me. I was in no danger and yet it’s set there forever in my brain, more solid then my pin number or anniversary date!) and not the adrenalin dumping panic of “I’m gonna die, dear god that was a rocket/missile/ahhhhhh!!!” danger. To not have the details clear in his mind over being shot at… while in the air… by enemy fighters who don’t want you just dead but splattered across the ground? I would assume that would be right up there in the memory banks of pants replacing moments you survive. And frankly, so would just the act of being in a war zone and have a ‘good thing you weren’t here an hour ago, you won’t believe what you missed’ relief hit you. If he had told the story by way of “I can’t believe how lucky/blessed I am to have not been/these guys just survived something that has me scared witless an hour later just hearing about it” he would have been honoring the vet he claimed to be wanting to honor. This is just a case of some jackass trying to grab onto real heroes coattails and claim some of the glory.
And as the daughter of a Marine? Kinda makes me want to slug him. But I’ll settle for laughing my head off when he is (hopefully, please universe toss me a bone here) summarily fired for his total lack of comprehension of journalism ethics.
He’d better be fired, but we all know that he probably won’t be. They lie for a living, so what’s one more to them?
Spot on Kiddo.
There is no way – even in the “heat of war” – that you confuse being shot down. Honestly. My guess would be that the guy told a lie in 2003 – or NBC falsely reported something in 2003 – and he kept up with the lie all these years later. Then, he’s called out on it. Pants on fire.
Bold faced lie. Not a mistake.
It’s a big stinking lie that’s been left to fester for 12 years.
Can’t stand him. He always seemed cheesy, to me.
I try to like his daughter Allison on Girls but she’s annoying too.
Robert Krulwich of NPR & RadioLab did a story about the way people do mistakenly insert themselves into stories and misremember exactly what happened. Krulwich used the example of a story his wife told so often he started to remember being with her. I’ve actually done that a few times myself.
Not saying that’s definitely what happened to Brian Williams. But if he arrived soon after this occurred, was emotionally shaken up and there was some shooting near his own helicopter, it may be possible that he truly did misremember the details – as crazy as that seems. Memories are complex, pliable and, more often than we are comfortable admitting, sometimes unreliable.
Oh man…that’s f*cked up.
But you know..I kind of believe Williams….maybe I’m naïve, but I don’t think he’s the type of dude to intentionally fabricate. Truthfulness and accuracy is such an integral part of a news commentator’s reputation, ya know? Meh. It’s super-embarrassing either way.
It’s awesome though that that vet was ballsy enough to just call him out like that. Amazing.
I’m not buying his excuse. Unless you are suffering from severe memory loss (which I doubt he is), who would misremember such an intense experience if it actually happened? Brian has embellished this story over the years, adding to it to make it even more dramatic. Joseph Miller, a man who says he was on the same chopper as Brian, responded to Lance Reynolds on NBC’s Nightly News Facebook page:
Thank you Lance! I’ve been calling him out on this for a long time with no response. He was actually on my aircraft and we came in behind you about 30-45 minutes later. He is a total POS! He had the audacity to tell me the whole thing was like “Saving Private Ryan” and that the whole army would be out looking for him. I called him an idiot in front of his camera crew and he didn’t come back to my bird for next 3 days!
So Brian knew at least one person had called him out, yet he was still spinning this lie since last Friday. You could say Brian is close to being guilty of what’s called “stolen valor’, where men (primarily) who had an undistinguished career in the military – or who never served at all – exaggerate their service and contributions in the military as a misguided way of getting attention and respect.
His offense is not as bad as some others I’ve heard about, but this certainly ruins his credibility. It takes a lot of ego to reach that level of success in his industry (or any other job that keeps you in the public eye), but damn – too many celebs believe their own press, frontin’ and thinking they’re above the rules.
I completely agree and I’ve changed my mind.
I think I gave him the benefit of the doubt because truth be told, I always liked him.
The most egregious part is as you said here, people have been calling him out on this for a long time.
His credibility is in the sh*tter now.
In other news, he’s perfect for NBC, a network with no real integrity.
“He had the audacity to tell me the whole thing was like “Saving Private Ryan” and that the whole army would be out looking for him. I called him an idiot in front of his camera crew and he didn’t come back to my bird for next 3 days!”
You believe that THIS is a true story? That a sgt would call a highly regarded journalist an idiot to his face? This sounds very much like a big fish story.
Sorry Kitten, I hope I wasn’t sounding too argumentative. My mistake (and a common one at that) is I didn’t read all the comments before posting. I would’ve realized that you had altered your opinion once more info became available.
Giving people the benefit of the doubt is a wonderful quality to possess. Like other celebs, Brian can be charming, so I think it’s completely understable to accept people at face value – until they show their true colors.
I wonder if he’ll keep his job, and if it’s because he has dirt on NBC execs, like Matt Lauer supposedly has.
I think I posted without really thinking it through–a common mistake for ME 😉 — and without knowing all the details that have been provided for me by poster like yourself and AJ.
If he had any class and integrity left, he would resign, because sadly, I don’t see NBC firing him..
Kitten, I use to give people on TV the benefit of the doubt too. It is really kind of eye opening when you decide they are all lying to you. CNN, FOX, MSNBC, ALL OF THEM! They are all pushing an agenda.
At the time when he lied about being under attack everyone was all gung ho ya let’s invade Iraq. So he was giving the people what they wanted.
The people at Fox News knows their viewers want to hear about all the perceived bad things Obama does, so that is what they do. MSNBC loves to blame Republicans for everything and that is what their viewers want.
He’s the last of the old guard who speaks with that dated lockjaw accent.
No, no and no. As a former reporter, this is as disgusting as things get. I was a print journalist and at one of my jobs, I worked with a former TV news producer whose definition of that industry, “soulless,” sums up everything I could say in much greater detail about this incident. Shame on Brian Williams, who has made it harder for those who practice their craft with ruthless integrity.
I guess he is more broadcaster than journalist.
I think he is more celebrity than broadcaster. The same happened to Barbara Walters.
He definitely isn’t a journalist. His Facebook apology is littered with grammatical mistakes that anyone with a degree in journalism would be embarrassed to post.
Cannibell, it must be so difficult for a serious journalist to see things like this! Nowadays it seems the words “journalistic integrity” are oxymorons.
Oh, Ava, you are so right. And the worst part is that when someone who does care about getting it right goes out to do an interview, we have to get past the wall of mistrust that people like Brian Williams built. I have so much respect for anyone generous enough to sit down and tell me his or her story, regardless of whether it’s information about how they find counselors for their summer camp or whether it’s more personal. Someone is trusting you to get their story right, and that is a big, big thing.
He’s screwed either way. Either he lied, or he is so “confused” that he “conflated” events (which is hard to believe). And if his brain is that addled, he’s in trouble.
His credibility is gone, either way.
First Nancy Snyderman and now Brian…NBC=No Bloody Credibility.
Exactly, Brin. “Soups” Snyderman was on the Nightly News the other day talking about the importance of vaccinations – well, it’s also important to stay quarantined when you have been exposed to Ebola – no matter HOW tasty the soup is at your favorite diner. She has no credibility, and unfortunately, Brian has crossed the line, as well.
Yep…bad judgement all around.
Throw in Matt Lauer and it really gets pathetic!
Exactly my thoughts. As much as I loved him, Brian needs to step down, and take that smirking Nancy Snyderman with him.
Yep – and I don’t remember Ann Curry being a liar, either.
She was terrible in her job, though.
I watch TODAY every morning…it’s my morning ritual and has been for over 20 years. @ Nicegirl–let’s leave Ann Curry out of this. Kiddo is right, she was HORRIBLE at her job.
Still, I have to agree with Brin…after the Nancy Snyderman fiasco (no ethics), I wrote NBC and told them I’d no longer be a viewer if they kept her. Now, with Brian Williams, whom I never liked, although he finds himself charming (ugh), I have to agree with the NO CREDIBILITY factor. I’m out.
@judyk- he finds himself charming is a very good way to describe how attitude.
He’s always so smug. Smug enough that an American pop culture show “the soup” has a regular segment called “rarr with brian Williams” where they take bitchy/self-aggrandizing quotes from his newscasts or when he interviews others
OMG yes……I used to love NBC but after Snyderman and now Williams I can’t stand the network. Plus it doesn’t help that ABC has McDreamy reading their news (I totally have a crush on David Muir).
Wow. The story is a real smack. Brian Williams… Massive lie… I’m surprised at the depth of my disappointment. Like many I am hugely disappointed.
What I’m hoping, though it would in no way excuse him, that maybe it was a story first told less publicly but picked up traction and then he ran with it, until obviously it came crashing down. This makes him look really bad though.
Honestly I can’t see how he can keep his credibility or how NBC News can. If Dan Rather got booted over his scandal, then Brian Williams must be close to that line also. However we are talking NBC not CBS so he’ll probably stay on as if this was just a blip. This is the network works continues to pay Matt Lauer huge sums for being pretty much unbearable.
I wouldn’t use CBS as a paragon of virtue in broadcasting. They didn’t fire Lara Logan after she presented that fabricated Benghazi story on “60 Minutes”.
That said, I find this lack of integrity on Brian Williams’ part really disappointing.
Feebee, I understand you! But you shouldn’t be surprised at the depth of your disappointment. It is only rational to be deeply disappointed when the very ones we trust to deliver us the news accurately and truthfully fail to do so.
I hate this because I actually like Brian Williams but he should be fired. Dishonesty in journalism is never okay. Not ever. Gossip is one thing, journalists have a responsibility to the truth so the public stays informed on the issues and can make informed and educated decisions. If he lied about this, what other lies has he told on the air that aren’t in danger of being discovered?
Agree, and I think he will be fired, or “resign”.
The human condition is full of failures.
While your statement is true, it is hard to understand and/or forgive the perpetuation of that failure.
I’m not as surprised as most people about this. BriWi – the guy who regularly needs to demonstrate how witty he is on late night talk shows; the guy who has (had?) his own music blog because who doesn’t want to know what your newscaster is listening to – has a giant ego and would tell a lie for over 10 years to make him look cooler/more whatever? Well, knock me down with a feather!
Scott Pelley 4 eva!
I’m with you. I always side-eyed the smug Williams. Pelley, at least on air, demonstrates a lot more humility. This Williams thing doesn’t shock or surprise me at all.
Wow! Even his apology smacks of arrogance.It is almost as if he takes for granted that the audience will simply take his word , and just move on. Talk about white priveledge….there it is.
I can’t recall exactly, but didn’t Brian Williams make snide remarks about Angelina Jolie and her Today Show appearance back when she was with Billy Bob Thornton?
I didn’t see that @anonymous, but I haven’t watched Williams in a long time, at least not of my own volition.
Not cool at all. He lost a ton of his integrity and this is going to become huge, mark my words.
I am sure you can’t mistake an attack on you! I am sure he knew he was lying and some people do and say darndest things to make it in their field of work. Oh well..another one bites the dust.
He lied. And his admission and apology were a non-admission and non-apology. He is just making excuses. He lied. For over a decade. Hillary Clinton told a similar lie about being shot at by Bosnian snipers (she never admitted to the lying, but she at least had the dignity to stop telling her tall tale, unlike Brian Williams). I find what Brian William did wholly offensive. My fiancé is a US Marine veteran. He HAS been shot at. In Lebanon. By bad people. Who blew up the US Marine barracks. It was not pleasant, particularly given the fact that he willingly signed up for a job that includes, as part of the job description, being shot at. His only comment about Brian Williams: “scumbag”.
Thanks for bringing up the Hillary Clinton lie. Lies of this sort shouldn’t be tolerated, whether it is a “journalist” (and let’s be honest here, he’s a news reader and has been for a long long time) or a would-be President of the US. Both are scumbags in my book.
This was more sinister and not just an honest mistake. My husband was on aircraft 99, which was the one shot down. Brian Williams was lying the minute he visited the aircraft hours later, and the crew members have been trying to call attention to it since then. Even back in 2003, he stated that he was in the convoy, which he wasnt. And his convoy that landed after the boys were shot down left them to do their own security while trying to assess whether their aircraft could be flown and take care of repairs.
Not only this, but he didn’t mention in his report if the members of the crew were safe and what was going on. So imagine what it was like for all of the military wives in Germany waiting for a call to say their husbands were okay. It was a few days later once the crew WAS safe before they gave interviews. And it was to Geraldo Rivera since they were irritated by Brian Williams.
Basically, they refused to give Williams an interview on site and closed the aircraft ramp on him because they were still reeling from their experience and needing to take care of their aircraft so they could get to a relatively safe area. And Williams wanted the story so he embellished his story with no regard to the crew or their families. Our home has banned NBC news since 2003 because of this jackass, and the fact that my husband spits fire and rants every time he saw Brian Williams.
His aplogy wasn’t enough. He needs to admit he lied from the beginning. And I personally think he should resign or be fired. The anguish and stress I felt after seeing his story and waiting to hear that my husband was safe (three very long days later) is not something I will ever forget, and I will not forgive until he comes completely clean.
Very interesting… thank you for the info.
Yes, thank you very much for sharing your experience.
He should be fired. This is worse than the Dan Rather situation. But Lara logan remains on the job, so clearly journalistic standards have been eased.
Wow. Thanks for the inside info.
I’ve officially changed my mind and I agree with all that he should resign.
Wow. No idea. Thanks for the backstory. I’m glad this is all coming to light, even though it’s wayyyyy too far after the fact. Hope the right people all get their comeuppance. And more than that, sorry to hear what you had to endure. Awful.
Yes, thank you for your first-person, honest account. Write an op-ed to the New York Times. Send it to Trish Hall, the Op-Ed editor: trishh (at) nytimes.com.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience.
Oh no. What a weasel. I am sorry that happened to you and your husband. He absolutely needs to be fired, I don’t see how he can ever be taken seriously again. And to keep up with this for so LONG? Ugh.
AJ – Thank you for sharing this, thanks to your husband and his fellow crew members for their service, and I’m so sorry they were traumatized again by Brian “if I can’t get the story I want, I’ll just make it up” Williams.
Thank you for the information – what a disgusting bunch of hooey from Williams – thanks to your husband for his service and very glad to hear he returned safely.
AJ, thanks so much for sharing this account. You and your family have been through some harrowing times and are incredibly courageous–something Brian Williams knows nothing about. Really drives home how despicable his actions are and that he should be fired.
AJ — thanks for sharing. too bad your post can only be seen by celebitchy viewers. consider telling your story on another platform too in order to reach more people and convince any skeptics.
Caitlin- Hubs got a call from a reporter with the NY times. Since his name was mentioned in the original Stars and Stripes article, they tracked him down. He’s given his story, which is much better and funnier than mine. We can only hope they publish it.
AJ – Good to hear. I’ll keep an eye out for it and keep fingers crossed!
AJ, thank you for this accounting and please Thank your husband for his service
Wow.
I’ve always dug BriWi and “gin n juice” endeared me to him forever…..
No more. This is horrible, there is no conceivable excuse for this. He should make a statement wholly owning up to this then resign immediately. In no way should he keep his job.
Disgusting and dishonorable. Lying for over ten years to the world when your job is to report the truth in a war zone? So bad.
Despicable – a disgrace. He should be fired immediately.
How are you confused about whether or not you were on a helicopter that was under gun fire?
Right?!?! But not being a military member, maybe he thought that was something you might be a little fuzzy on. He better be done.
Exactly. And not only that, what was all that crap about being protected by army infantry while they waited? WTF?
Basically honest people don’t make very convincing liars.
I heard Brian Williams repeating this story in vivid detail on Letterman and I believed it.
NBC will have no other choice but to terminate Williams because his credibility is irreparably damaged.
Brian Williams is a pretty boy disguised as a journalist. Most of these morning and evening news anchors are overpaid celebrities. The days of Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings are over. The people we see on the news today are not real journalists, or maybe they started off as real journalists, but sold their integrity to become overpaid celebrity tv hosts.
Most of them are doing the public a great disservice by reporting biased and misleading information rather than the facts. The 24 hour news cycle has only divided people even further on topics of politics and race for the sake of ratings.
Some of these reporters are so egotistical that they love making news stories just about them and their adventures rather than normal everyday people. That is what television news has become. It makes me mad that there are lots of real journalists who go to journalism school and/or work for years at small town newspapers or news networks and will never get a break or earn in a lifetime what these talking heads and celebrity journalists make in one year.
It grosses me out that his daughter has gotten her acting career through nepotism as well. I’m glad he was called out and he should be fired over this. He lied. This wasn’t a mistake or lapse in memory.
# You broke my heart, Freddo
Disappointing is an understatement. You don’t misremember getting shot down and instead you flew in quite a while later.
Mind-boggling.
Oh well. Lie or not, it’s not like I’m going to confuse Brian Williams with a legit wartime reporter, someone on the ground getting the real story. He was probably in the green zone the whole time accompanied by an armored brigade. I don’t take evening news seriously, not since Peter Jennings.
I’m not inclined to believe that he could “mis-remember” this. Memories are malleable, but he wasn’t saying that his helicopter was shot at, or took some bullets. He claimed that an RPG forced it down. RPGs don’t do a small amount of damage.
He LIED. Straight up. I can’t see any other way to see this.
I hope he has some consequences. If Dan Rather could be forced out for merely failing to verify a story that had SOME semblance of credibility, then Williams should certainly face some consequences for making something up and repeating it on-air.
And it sucks because there are truly legit war journalists who risk their lives (and who actually do get killed sometimes) and they are rarely given the kudos they deserve. Brian Williams tried to represent himself as one, and it failed.
+1
Fire him. If this were a Fox News broadcaster who had lied for years, the liberals would be out for blood.
Fox News lies consistently. It’s called, “just another day”.
I mean…!? Save it, lila fowler.
LMAO, Kiddo!!
LOL! Exactly.
Really? I think i’d be news if Fox News DIDN’T lie… sad to see so many brainwashed people. Hope they’re paying you well :/
I’ve always liked Brian Williams and the work he’s done with Vets and the military. But this is REALLY bad. And when you think of David Bloom (NBC), who gave his life, and Scott Woodruff (ABC), who has been left with permanent injuries from their time in Iraq, the one journalist (Wolff?) who lost a hand and Michael Ware (CNN) who has serious PTSD from *years* of covering war zones, including Iraq, it’s even worse. Not to mention that this news is breaking just as ISIS has executed that Japanese journalist and that British journalist was just released from an Egyptian prison. It’s dangerous work covering the Middle East and people shouldn’t embellish their stories when there are so many journalists who suffer injury and death covering them. A story like this is basically the Stolen Valour equivalent except instead of wearing false medals, you are telling false war stories.
I didn’t know that about Scott Woodruff…
Maybe because it was Bob Woodruff.
Yes of course it as Bob not Scott. My error.
Scott, Bob, Mike, Jim, Bill, Peter, Brian, Patrick….I think I’ve dated four of each.
This +100% – it is a real dishonour to those journalists who have died or suffered – he should hang his head in shame.
Ribbons of shame Brian Williams.
How is it “in the heat of war” when BW came upon the scene an hour after it was already done? Also, how do you not know that you weren’t on a helicopter being shot down? I’d remember whether or not I was on that helicopter. It’s not like BW’s usual mode of transport is on a military copter, especially one that’s in the line of fire.
I don’t know exactly why BW thought he could get away with this. Maybe he thought the military men’s voices wouldn’t be heard as much as his if they should try to refute his lie? Maybe back in 2003, social media and internet news coverage wasn’t as prevalent as today and so he thought it was ‘safe’ to tell stories like that without being called on it nationally? Maybe once he started with this lie, he was either so arrogant that he didn’t just drop it but kept going with it or maybe it got away from him?
But to keep choosing to tell this lie for over ten years is just plain arrogant, stupid, and reckless, especially since during these over-ten years, the growing strength of the internet in getting news from non-corporate media sources out to the public has become so readily easy. What a numb nut.
I’m very disappointed in Brian. He flat out lied and there’s no other way of putting it. Attaching oneself to the honor and bravery of our service people for one’s own self image is the bottom of the barrel. File him next to Michael Moore.
i can totally see misremembering something but not something this big
he needs to go
Heartbroken. I loved Brian Williams and his purple ties. He was the last US newsman that I still respected. C’est last vie. BBC exclusively for me now.
Same here. I thought he was smart and funny and I fell for his appearances on late night talk shows. He replaced Peter Jennings, and at the time I wondered if physical resemblance was part of that decision. Very disappointed – guess he was just eye candy all along.
He lied. How can a journalist confuse something like that?
I don’t know how anyone can watch this propaganda and circus side-show parading as news, nor the idiot broadcasters parading as professional reporters anymore. Brian William is a privileged college dropout who looks down on the rest of us. Here’s how he feels about any criticism that comes his way, which he was sheltered from until the dawn of the internet:
“You’re going to be up against people who have an opinion, a modem, and a bathrobe. All of my life, developing credentials to cover my field of work, and now I’m up against a guy named Vinny in an efficiency apartment in the Bronx who hasn’t left the efficiency apartment in two years.”
What a condescending @ss …
Vinny is probably better informed and more honest.
I can’t believe he would be so stupid. But I guess he got away with it for more than a decade…
If you tell the truth about something it becomes part of your past.
If you lie about something it becomes part of your future.
I don’t think skepticism is unwarranted, BUT it is possible he is telling the truth about his confusion. Memory is fickle and unreliable. We are all fall more susceptible to making false memories than we would like to think. Maybe he was deliberately lying, but it is possible he isn’t.
You don’t misremember being under fire. Ask any vet, or cop, who has been there. I will give you the fact that he lied for so long and so often that it’s blurry for him, but at some point he made up the initial lie and ran with it.
Yeah, the thing is, you have to ask a vet or a cop. You know why? Because they don’t talk about it. In my experience, people who have been through really awful, harrowing events by and large don’t like to go over them again and again.
I suspect you are probably right. I’m not defending him. I don’t even know who he is because I can’t stand TV news.
GT, trauma is highly personalized. Some people love to talk about it, believe it or not. In my experience, most people serving in war zones don’t tend talk about it except with other people who shared the same war. But there are always outliers. I think it’s more likely he lied, regardless. I find false memories very interesting, though, so I wanted to point out that they do happen.
It’s like ‘mis-remembering’ that you were in a head-on car accident that was almost fatal when you were really an hour away from the scene and not even in the same car. This is basically the situation with what happened with BW. How is it possible?
And how is it possible that BW thinks he should thank the crew of that military copter for helping him after the crash when he wasn’t even there when it crashed?
How much does one have to mis-remember in order to fit fantasy with reality?
Sorry guys, but you’re wrong. Memory sucks. It is incredible fallible, and yes, it absolutely is possible to create huge and inaccurate “memories.” That is not my opinion. It is a phenomenon which has been well documented and scientifically replicated over and over.
I am guessing it was a deliberate lie, regardless. Seems a lot more likely.
I am agnostic about Brian Williams. But I have mis remembered things to the point that I can see how this may happen. You tell a story and then you remember it as if you were there in the helicopter and then pretty soon, you’re in the helicopter and serving in the military and shooting at and capturing saddam Hussein.
Seriously though, i read a doctors article on CNN saying it’s possible his memory played tricks. And from my episode of false memory, I can see how this may happen. That said, I thought his apology seemed a bit too casual and glib.
do we consider Anderson Cooper a legit reporter?
I thought he was well reputed.
If he had lied I’d be most upset I think, as I like him a lot. Not his stupid talk show, nor his Kathy Griffen stunts.
This guy Brian lied, and he should resign ASAP.
Anderson Cooper is head and shoulders above this guy – in integrity and talent.
Brian continued the narrative that the media wanted us to believe. This isn’t the first time we have been lied to and it won’t be the last.
https://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/flashback-cnn-busted-producing-fake-news-from-first-gulf-war/
Flat-out liar should be fired. What a disgrace. He’s always been a preening little creep.
Anybody.-On network news should not make a mistake. The are paid a million a word for no mistakes
Once upon a time, I was on the inside of a large national news story. Covered by every major news outlet for a multi week period. As an individual, I wasn’t a part of the story itself, but I held a position within an organization that was integral in the aftermath of the event. I knew practically everything that was going on in the matter. What was going on — and what was printed and reported — only had a vague resemblance to the actual events. Some things were reported correctly. Some things were sensationalized by being shared out of context and by omitting relevant information that provided that context. Other things were just wrong. Believe me, what I learned about the media and the lack of ethics, honesty and willingness to tell an accurate and complete story was very disheartening. The media doesn’t report the news anymore. The media wants to be the news, create the news, and tell you what to think about it. Its just plain sad and disgusting and disillusioning.
Memory is unreliable, but how could anyone make THIS sort of mistake?
As a side note, I’ve never like Brian Williams. There’s something so phony about him, it seems to me, and he’s always grated on my nerves.