Journalist Lies About Iraq

I think that Williams days at NBC nightly news are numbered.

I can't see him surviving this. He has no creditbility left .
 
Kopji said:
NBC Journalists deceive themselves and others.
But not us!
Film at 11 on Fox News.

Oh yeah sure.

I feel a little compassion about these kind of things. We live in a time where every mistake and lie - large and small - can eventually be exposed by the power of the Internet. There are times I miss the good old black and white days when heroes were possible.
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Sorry, but I have little compassion for a journalist who lies and misleads the public the way WIlliams has.
 
Brainster said:
Now another Brian Williams story is coming in for some attention:



Looks like we have a serial Drama Queen.
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Katrina photos show water did surround Ritz-Carlton, where NBC anchor Brian Williams stayed

While doubters have noted correctly that the Quarter, New Orleans’ original high ground, remained largely if not completely dry, photographs and news reports from the time indicate there was flooding around the Ritz-Carlton, where the network source confirmed Williams stayed.

The hotel is located on Canal Street between Burgundy and Dauphine streets — technically just outside the Quarter, which is bounded by Esplanade Avenue, the Mississippi River, and Iberville and North Rampart streets.

Pictures shot at the time by a guest at the hotel show there was water outside the Ritz. It’s unclear how deep the water was: It’s shallow enough that the sidewalk below is clearly visible, but also deep enough that a boat is bobbing in the water. It is also unclear exactly what day the pictures were taken.

A Times-Picayune account from Sept. 1, 2005, cites a hotel manager describing the hotel as being surrounded by water, and discussing the Ritz’ efforts to evacuate guests. A subsequent report on Sept. 8 by the same reporter, Rebecca Mowbray, says the Ritz sustained significant flood damage and was shuttered.


[...]

Capt. James Scott, who during Katrina commanded the New Orleans Police Department’s First District, just outside the French Quarter, said his memories of the days after the storm are somewhat blurred and he couldn’t specifically recall a body outside the Ritz-Carlton.

But Scott said Williams’ accounts appear to be “a fair assessment” of the conditions when the water in the city reached its height.

“There was a time when Canal Street had water on it. They had about three feet on Canal, but kind of the dividing line for a lot of it, once it went down, was Rampart Street.

“But for a period of time the water was everywhere except in the old Quarter and by the river.”

“They did have water, and they had bodies around there initially, from the drownings. So there was bodies. I had a body right at the First District atation that was floating at St. Louis and Rampart. When the water was high, there was a body right there.”
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That water is up to his toes! I can totally see how he might have accidentally swallowed some.
 
And now his tale of saving a puppy:

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. 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.
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Or was it two:

Talking to Esquire in 2005, Williams boasted, "All I ever did as a volunteer fireman was once save two puppies." Note that he didn't say "save two puppies," which could have meant saving an individual puppy on two occasions. He clearly says this happened "once."
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US news anchor Brian Williams says he is taking himself off air "for several days", amid questions over false claims he came under fire in Iraq.

Williams said it had become "painfully apparent" that he was too much a part of the news.

He repeatedly told a story about being shot down in a helicopter in Iraq but veterans disputed his account.

Williams, the most-watched network anchor in the US, blamed the "fog of memory" for the lapse.

In a statement, he said he would not be presenting his nightly NBC show for several days while the network investigated his claims.

"Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us," he added.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31220600
 
I really don't see how this is a big deal at all. His helicopter was really shot at. So he said it was an RPG instead of small arms. I mean, really? That's a distinction we care about? If he hadn't actually ever been in a helicopter in Iraq I could see the furor. But, this?

Seems to me people are just using this as an axe to grind because they don't like his politics.
 
He is supposed to be a journalist. If he can't get the facts right with an event he was involved in, what hope is there he reports anything correctly?
 
Travis said:
I really don't see how this is a big deal at all. His helicopter was really shot at. So he said it was an RPG instead of small arms. I mean, really? That's a distinction we care about? If he hadn't actually ever been in a helicopter in Iraq I could see the furor. But, this?

Seems to me people are just using this as an axe to grind because they don't like his politics.
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He claimed his helicopter was shot down, not merely shot at. And yes, the difference is pretty damned big.
 
Hey, the ship next to mine blew up. maybe it was my ship and I am remembering it wrong.
 
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

To me, the bigger issue is that journalism is often so sensationalized anyway that I think many journalists sometimes forget where the difference between the spin and the truth is. The public wants the sensationalism, so they get the spin, and then they complain when the sort-of-dishonesty they expect turns out to be real dishonesty...
 
Travis said:
I really don't see how this is a big deal at all. His helicopter was really shot at. So he said it was an RPG instead of small arms. I mean, really? That's a distinction we care about? If he hadn't actually ever been in a helicopter in Iraq I could see the furor. But, this?

Seems to me people are just using this as an axe to grind because they don't like his politics.
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I never paid a lot of attention to Williams, but I always liked what I saw. I think this is a big deal, relatively speaking.

If the alleged "embellishment" of these other stories turns out be true, too, the very least that needs to be done is for Williams to be restricted to a purely desk job. I think he's probably still trustworthy enough to read the news to an audience, but I'm not sure he can be trusted to accurately recount his personal, in-the-field experiences.
 
Wolrab said:
He is supposed to be a journalist. If he can't get the facts right with an event he was involved in, what hope is there he reports anything correctly?
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First off, he's not a journalist. Journalists go out and dig for information. He reads a teleprompter in front of a camera. He's essentially just a news presenter. If we were relying on Williams to break big scoops then it would be a minor concern. But we don't. We rely on him to make a dumb pun as a lead in to stories on cute puppies being rescued from storm drains.

Ziggurat said:
He claimed his helicopter was shot down, not merely shot at. And yes, the difference is pretty damned big.
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Was he shot at? Did his helicopter eventually land again? Did my uncle really single handedly clear our the largest spider hole in the Mekong Delta with nothing but a sharpened toothbrush?
 
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