Brian Williams’ Necessary Abeyance
AMBER LI
BARRY CHUENG
Staff Writers
On Feb. 10, NBC news anchor and veteran journalist Brian Williams was suspended for six months without pay for falsifying a story he had covered in Iraq in 2003. His suspension and the negative light he received were well-deserved for the dishonest stories he reported as a renowned journalist. He repeatedly claimed to have experienced a terrible and impressive situation, when in fact he only stole the story and added himself. This incident will haunt Williams’ career and integrity forever, ultimately stressing the importance of the journalistic responsibility to always remain honest and sincere.
According to CBS News, Williams first reported that he was aboard a military helicopter that was shot down by missiles and was forced to land in the desert. However, this recollection was a total fluke. According to the Washington Post, the crew that was present at the incident stated that Williams had actually arrived safely on a different aircraft one hour after.
Due to his dishonesty, Williams has threatened the trust that multitudes of people put in the NBC News network. Additionally, another dire consequence is that he has harmed his own career. With a large amount of viewers, Williams has a great impact on public opinion and their perception of the world, but by lying and spreading fraudulent statements, he twisted social views and attitude. The suspension and general lack of confidence in him is exactly appropriate for misinforming the public.
Recently, on Feb. 4 after several soldiers and veterans argued about the validity of the Iraq story in a Stars and Stripes Newspaper interview, Williams released a short on-air apology on NBC’s Nightly News explaining his misconduct. His apology may have exempted him from some of the rage he has received, but it does not justify his actions for lying about the story and possibly more.
It is disappointing to see that the news cannot be fully relied on due to the exaggerations, bias and other prejudices of poor journalistic decisions that could make a story less credible. Williams serves as a reminder that the public must critically evaluate what they are told by the media rather than accept everything as fact,.
Since the highly acclaimed reporter was unveiled to be untrustworthy, his story brought lots of negative attention for both Williams and NBC. The network took the necessary action of giving Williams a leave of absence to review his work, but it will take time to regain people’s trust and favor as a legitimate news source.