Did Brian Williams repeatedly lie about a meeting with the pope?
Brian Williams
By Kyle Drennen | February 12, 2015 | 1:33 PM EST
Adding to the myriad of problems for Brian Williams, actor Charlie Sheen has voiced his support for the embattled NBC Nightly News anchor. In an open letter released on Wednesday, the famously erratic celebrity praised Williams [grammar as written]: "First off, THANK YOU, for 24 years of inimitable professionalism and top shelf brilliance, as a stone cold passion driven and (PERFECTLY) fact based journalist....Now and forever you are a true Patriot and a Hero of mine until the day i leave this star crossed imperfect Rock we call Earth…"
By Matthew Balan | February 12, 2015 | 1:26 PM EST
Liberal author Douglas Brinkley did his best on Wednesday's Anderson Cooper 360 to excuse Brian Williams's "embellishment" regarding his reporting of the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – mere moments after the CNN program spotlighted examples of the NBC anchor's questionable claims. Despite this reporting, host Anderson Cooper never confronted his guest over his own role in boosting Williams's statements in his Hurricane Katrina book.
By Tim Graham | February 12, 2015 | 8:22 AM EST
The Washington Post reported on the front page Thursday that senior NBC officials "seriously considered firing" Brian Williams, and the anchor "failed to secure a promise he can return" later this year.
But the juiciest part was the end, where they reported Williams has been in control with few 'checks and balances" since the Comcast merger in 2011, and "No one said 'No'" to the anchorman.
By Curtis Houck | February 11, 2015 | 11:27 PM EST
On Wednesday, ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir was the lone network evening newscast to not mention the news that NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams had been suspended indefinitely for six months without pay. The program instead devoted just under two minutes to the ongoing liberal media fawning over Jon Stewart and the announcement that he will be stepping down from the anchor desk of The Daily Show sometime this year.
NBC Nightly News Drops Brian Williams from Title, Graphics, Twitter, and Website; Lester Holt Addresses Suspension
By Curtis Houck | February 11, 2015 | 8:27 PM EST On its first broadcast since the announcement of anchor Brian Williams’s suspension, NBC Nightly News took the step of dropping both Williams’s name from the program’s title, opening graphics, recorded introduction, mastead of the show's website, and Twitter account. Following four teasers from now-interim anchor Lester Holt, the opening theme of the program was played as normal, but instead of a recorded announcement from actor Michael Douglas, a separate recording by another voice was used that told viewers “this is NBC Nightly News” and “reporting tonight, Lester Holt.”
By Tom Johnson | February 11, 2015 | 6:07 PM EST
Ken Auletta reports that Williams had agreed to a suspension but “wanted a declaration by NBC that he would return as an evening-news anchor.” NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke, “torn between wanting to take a hard line and feeling compassion for Williams,” sought Brokaw’s counsel regarding the matter. After Brokaw said he was “concerned about the effects of Williams’s actions on the reputation of the rank and file in the news division,” Burke decided to make the suspension “non-negotiable.”
By Ken Shepherd | February 11, 2015 | 5:18 PM EST
The Smoking Gun website has a great question today that the suits at NBC Universal really should be pressed to answer. Hint, it involves a certain Baptist preacher with his own show on MSNBC who has a penchant for repeatedly violating the Ninth Commandment (among others).
NBC Colleagues React to Williams Suspension: 'You Cannot Mislead...Truth and Transparency – It's Our Trade'
By Kyle Drennen | February 11, 2015 | 5:09 PM EST Reacting to the decision by NBC News to suspend NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams for six months following his Iraq war lies, Today 9 a.m. hour co-host Willie Geist acknowledged it was "kind of a difficult and strange morning." Fellow co-host Natalie Morales added: "...it is a difficult day here and we are certainly sharing our best wishes with Brian. It's a tough time for him and his family, so we hope and pray for the best."
By Scott Whitlock | February 11, 2015 | 4:46 PM EST
In the wake of a six month suspension for NBC anchor Brian Williams, ABC and CBS on Wednesday offered mocking coverage of their competitor's downfall. New York Times reporter David Carr appeared on CBS This Morning to deride: "...Everyone, including Brian, thought he was maybe too big to fail...Turns out, he's not the most important thing."
By Matthew Balan | February 11, 2015 | 3:46 PM EST
On Wednesday's CNN Newsroom, Mark Feldstein channeled Michael Moore's take on the Brian Williams scandal. The former CNN journalist acknowledged that Williams likely wouldn't recover the "traditional credibility that he had as a news anchor," but later fell into the same Bush bashing as Moore: "Is it as bad a scandal as telling lies about the Iraq War to get us into it, as the Bush administration did? No. But in journalistic circles, telling a lie is the cardinal sin."
NYT's Parker-Pope Posts on 'False Memories' in Williams' Defense — Four Days After NBC Pressure Was Known
By Tom Blumer | February 11, 2015 | 1:49 PM EST Tara Parker-Pope attempted a defense of disgraced NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams in an item ("Was Brian Williams a Victim of False Memory?") posted at the New York Times "Well" blog — late Monday afternoon. It even made Tuesday's New York version of the Old Gray Lady's print edition.
Parker-Pope's premise, similar to that used by Marison Bello at USA Today three days earlier — even using the same "expert" as a source — is that the Williams saga "offers a compelling case study in how memories can change and shift dramatically over time." Parker-Pope's post is particularly pathetic because it appeared online a full four days after Variety reported that Williams "had been counseled in the past by senior NBC News executives to stop telling the story in public." Over the next several days, other media outlets corroborated and built upon what Variety reported. In other words, even if one buys into the memory-shift idea, it can't possibly apply in the Williams case. Excerpts follow the jump (bolds are mine):