Integrity in Question ^Featured

Brian Williams let America down. NBC News trusted anchor, Brian Williams lied to us. He lied to us multiple times. When Americans turn on the evening news, they trust the anchorperson to deliver the true news. What happens when an anchor embellishes the news and betrays our trust?

Williams was the face of NBC News until earlier this year when he was exposed as a liar. He had been continually exaggerating his experience in a US Army helicopter in Iraq back in 2003. His embellishments made his helicopter ride sound life-threatening and that he had been under fire. At the time, we worried about him. Now, we are stunned and disappointed. Even as he tried to explain himself, he couldn’t seem to make himself confess to an actual “lie.” Instead, he admitted to “a mistake in recalling the events.” This didn’t fly for viewers and Williams found himself suspended from the network.

Williams was investigated thoroughly and found to have made numerous “mistakes in recall” over the years. Lester Holt was assigned as anchor of NBC Nightly News as the network, under Comcast rule, decided what to do with Williams.

His suspension finally over, Williams has been invited back to NBC. He has been demoted and given a lower salary. He also has been ordered to make the rounds of NBC shows with real apologies. In his new role, Williams will be an anchor of breaking news and special reports at MSNBC. There are, as expected, those who feel Williams should not be back at the network, and certainly not involved in reporting the news.

His role on MSNBC will be smaller and his ratings are expected to be small as well. Some employees at MSNBC are offended and feel like their network is the dumping ground for NBC’s trash. Not everyone is against him, but he will have to work hard to gain the trust of coworkers, network executives, sponsors, and viewers.

Brian Williams worked at NBC for 22 years. Why wasn’t it enough that he actually went to a war zone and rode in a helicopter? Why did he have to lie about flying into Baghdad with SEAL Team Six? Why did he continually embellish a Hurricane Katrina story from a rumored suicide to a suicide in front of many people, including himself? Why lie about being at the Berlin Wall when it came down? With at least a dozen more stories under scrutiny, why does he want to return to NBC?

We trust our news anchors. When they are brave, we applaud them. Perhaps we applaud too loudly and they become too proud. Perhaps going to the site of a tragedy or a victory isn’t enough anymore. Brian Williams wanted to be a part of the story. He didn’t want to simply report the news to us; he wanted to be the news. He has made a mockery of us by misleading us.

Will you be watching Williams’ return to television? Do you think he deserves another chance?