The controversy with Brian Williams has affected his career and public images, making it tough for him to regain trust. Mark Duncan/AP
By Delaney Benison
After years of watching newscaster Brian Williams, arguably the most popular evening news anchor in America, many have come to be shocked, angered and disappointed by a man they had come to respect and trust as a reporter.
The “NBC Nightly News” anchor was initially reported as saying he was following a helicopter that went down in Iraq in 2003, only for the story to evolve and change over the next 12 years into a harrowing story of courage under fire.
This is Brian Williams’ initial report from that day in 2003 recalling the events in the helicopter:
“On the ground, we learned the Chinook ahead of us was almost blown out of the sky. That hole was made by a rocket propelled grenade or RPG, fired from the ground. It punched cleanly through the skin of the ship but amazingly it didn’t detonate.”
Reasonable enough. The Chinook that Williams was in had to land because the one ahead of him was shot down. They landed for safety purposes.
This, however, is the tale he decided to tell on the Letterman show in 2013:
“Two of our four helicopters were hit by ground fire, including the one I was in, by RPG and AK- 47.”
This was followed by Letterman asking, “What happens the minute everyone realizes you’ve been hit?”
Williams responded, “We figure out how to land safely, and we did. We landed very quickly and hard. And we put down and we were stuck four birds in the middle of the desert and we were north out ahead of the other Americans.”
Williams almost sticks to his story, with the exception of being hit with RPG’s and AK-47’s. The question really is why did Williams do this? He is the most watched news anchor on television, averaging 9.3 million viewers a night.
This being the case, it seems surprising that someone so popular would need to exaggerate not only a news report, but a war experience. Was it a play for stardom? Was he trying to outshine his predecessor Tom Brokaw? , was he fighting to stay relevant at the time and attract a bigger audience? These are all questions that a reporter thought to be one of the most trusted men in America will probably never answer.
Once it came time for Williams to face the music, his apology was very singular to the report he’d done the previous week, trying to reach out to the veteran that helped him in 2003. While he did apologize to the men and women who serve and relayed his respect for them, he did not make it abundantly clear for what he was apologizing. During his apology, he did clarify the story about his helicopter and he said he made a mistake in recalling events of 12 years ago. This, however, seems to be an apology for misspeaking, rather than for increasing his lie over the past 12 years.
As for as Williams’ future, one thing has been determined. NBC has suspended him for six months without pay. Due to the recent findings, other reports by Williams are being investigated, including some of his coverage of Hurricane Katrina. All of this will only lead to more trust issues between Williams and his audience. So, what will this mean for Williams? Will it be a cooling off period during which watchers will forgive and forget? Or will this turn into a life sentence, leaving him off-air forever?
It will be tough for Brian Williams to regain the trust of an audience after he reported a story about himself, knew the truth, but exploited a false story anyway. There was no way, in this day in age, a story like this could be buried. It is possible Williams will be looking at a very similar fate to Dan Rather, who reported a false story on President Bush in 2004, ultimately forcing him to step down from CBS as its evening news anchor. NBC is a business and, as such, I am sure they intend on putting someone at the desk that will drive up ratings, while instilling an honest and trusting relationship with its viewers. This is a task in which Williams is no longer equipped to handle.
