Is Brian Williams telling "tall tales" a big deal?

I just wonder what TV mogul or political figure he pissed off because lying about anything isn't the reason why he's being destroyed.

Yes, yes it is. It is not a conspiracy. He's a lying liar who lies and now he can't be a newsman anymore. Move on.

Gilgamel_sl said:

Yes, yes it is. It is not a conspiracy. He's a lying liar who lies and now he can't be a newsman anymore. Move on.

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No, I mean, they protect their own. Lying and embellishment isn't something new. Not saying he didn't lie, he obviously did, but I imagine there's more to it than just that...someone opened the floodgates for this, in other words.

I lost any respect I mighta had for the guy when he was on the Daily show some time ago and said it wasn't his job to fact check politicians. Fuckin' blew me away. I thought that was like, the number 1 thing a reporter does. Can't say I'm surprised he got caught lying with an attitude like that.

It's such a small pointless lie, and that makes it as bad as a Dan Rather lie. If he's gonna sell himself out that cheap...

Not that I give a damn about Brian Williams one way or the other. But when you put your Big Boy Journalist Pants on you should probably at least try to tell the truth about your OWN experiences.

It is just such a stupid lie to get caught in. I mean at least he wasn't Geraldo making the cameraman shoot bullets into the air... but still. It's just fucking stupid. If I went into work and took a shit on the bosses desk I might just expect to get fired too.

In the grand scheme of things journalists could lie about or misrepresent, what Williams did was basically tell a fish story. It's almost as if he looked at the ranks of journalists and reporters who were either injured or narrowly escaped injury in war coverage as a fraternity that he wanted in on.

Still, he should be (and likely is) done as a first tier news personality. News anchors aren't full blown journalists per se, but he's also the editor of the evening news. Journalistic integrity and credibility are the most important things to have in his business. They're the foundation. You don't compromise those for something as trivial as being considered one of the cool kids.

His six month suspension is an audition period for whoever sits the desk while he's out. If the ratings don't slide very much or actually go up, Williams is done.

Brian Williams should just replace Jon Stewart, amirite?

Sir Funk_sl said:

Brian Williams should just replace Jon Stewart, amirite?

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In the grand scheme of things as stupid as this sounds, it might be the only way to salvage his career. He's done as a "real" journalist. Yeah, most of them lie, but he got caught. Worse, he didn't seem to really understand the only two things in a perfect world a journalist should strive for is truth and accuracy. And never make yourself the story. He seemed to break all these rules at once.

Phazael_sl said:

I believe it (thanks for the neg, btw) and you should to, if only for the reason that Fox fought to defend its right to lie and call it news in court (no bullshit there).

Having said that, if the left does not want to be painted with the same false equivalency brush then Williams needs to be run out on a rail. Integrity is not something you can buy back with money or time.

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I sign my negs, so it wasn't me. It is now though. Aside from shitting up threads feel free to hold whatever jingoistic opinions you want mang.

Iannis_sl said:

It's such a small pointless lie, and that makes it as bad as a Dan Rather lie. If he's gonna sell himself out that cheap...

Not that I give a damn about Brian Williams one way or the other. But when you put your Big Boy Journalist Pants on you should probably at least try to tell the truth about your OWN experiences.

It is just such a stupid lie to get caught in. I mean at least he wasn't Geraldo making the cameraman shoot bullets into the air... but still. It's just fucking stupid. If I went into work and took a shit on the bosses desk I might just expect to get fired too.

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I still question whether it was an intentional lie or embellishment. There's been esearch into how memories work and how easily they can be distorted. Some science points towards us not actually having concrete memories, but each time we are remembering something, we're remembering the last time we thought about it. Basically, it's sort of a game of telephone, soremembering something can actually affect our memory. Considering how close Williams was to what happened and the stress of the situation, I see it as being plausible that he isn'tintentionallybeing deceptive, he's just conflated the event and his place in it.

Much of [Karim Nader's] research is on rats, but he says the same basic principles apply to human memory as well. In fact, he says, it may be impossible for humans or any other animal to bring a memory to mind without altering it in some way. Nader thinks it's likely that some types of memory, such as a flashbulb memory, are more susceptible to change than others. Memories surrounding a major event like September 11 might be especially susceptible, he says, because we tend to replay them over and over in our minds and in conversation with others-with each repetition having the potential to alter them.

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But, the end result is the same regardless. Whether he is just making shit up to tell a good story on Letterman or his memories have just gotten a little jumbled, his credibility is strained either way, and perhaps moreso in the case of the latter. I guess the point then becomes more about his character than his reliability. (Though this all goes out the window if the stories about Katrina and saving puppies from a fire are similarly debunked since it's hard to see those being anything other than outright fabrications.)

BrutulTM_sl said:

I'm shocked to find out there's anyone under 60 watching the NBC Nightly news. I didn't know it was still on. I'm sure I haven't seen it since I was a kid and it meant the end of after school cartoons.

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The last time I watched it Tom Brokaw was lead anchor with John Chancellor coming in at the end of each night to do a two minute commentary. It had to have been the late 80's.