NYT's Parker-Pope Pushes False Memories Williams Meme 4 Days Late

February 11th, 2015 1:49 PM
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…
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NBC Finally Does Full Report on Brian Williams Scandal

February 11th, 2015 12:17 PM
After six days of limiting its coverage of the scandal engulfing NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams to a few cryptic briefs only seconds long, NBC News finally provided full coverage of the controversy on Tuesday's Today show. Co-host Matt Lauer introduced the report: "And now we turn to a story that hits very close to home for all of us who work at NBC News. Brian Williams, who's anchored…

Frank Rich: Conservatives Wildly Exaggerate Williams’s Liberalism

February 11th, 2015 11:43 AM
New York magazine pundit Rich admits the anchor badly mishandled the flap over his Iraq-war tall tale but dismisses much conservative criticism of Williams: “They view him as Exhibit A of a lying left-wing mainstream media conspiracy…But neither in public nor private have I ever seen or heard Brian Williams express any partisan political opinion.”
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Scarborough Shocked by Snark Over 'Straight' Reporter Brian Williams

February 11th, 2015 8:21 AM
Joe Scarborough is shocked by the outpouring of "sheer hatred, snarkiness and snideness" directed at Brian Williams.  On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough drew a contrast between himself, who as an opinion person has to expect much criticism, and Williams, who he claimed reported the news in a "straight" way.  But as Newsbusters and our parent MRC has carefully documented, Williams has been…
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CNN's Stelter Doubts ‘Anyone’ Thinks Williams 'Deserves a 2nd Chance'

February 11th, 2015 12:11 AM
After breaking the news that NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams will be suspended indefinitely for six months without pay, Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter joined CNN’s AC360 to discuss the story with the Hollywood Reporter’s Marisa Guthrie and expressed doubt that “anyone in the country” believes that Williams “deserves a second chance” as NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke did in backing him…

New York Mag: NBC Has a 'Dossier of Williams' Apparent Lies'

February 11th, 2015 12:00 AM
In his story on Brian Williams at 10:55 p.m. ET Tuesday, Gabriel Sherman at New York Magazine reported that the now-suspended anchor and his agent "were presented with a dossier of Williams' apparent lies," and that "Williams himself was only slowly grasping the depths of the mess he'd created." That begs the obvious question of whether the public will ever get to know what's in that "dossier,"…
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Bozell on Williams Suspension; ‘This Thing Is Not Going to Go Away'

February 10th, 2015 11:29 PM
Reacting to the news on Tuesday that NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams had been suspended for six months indefinitely without pay, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell joined Sean Hannity on his Fox News Channel (FNC) show and described the decision as “very strange” considering how the lies Williams told are “not going to go away.” Appearing with Hot Air’s Noah Rothman and…
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2005 Video: Williams Claimed Chopper Pilot Shot in the Earlobe

February 10th, 2015 7:40 PM
Earlier this afternoon (Tuesday), National Review’s Eliana Johnson dug up the full transcript of embattled NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams recounting his helicopter story to Tim Russert in 2005, and she zeroed in on Williams specific claim that the pilot — “our captain” — was shot “right through the earlobe,” a claim disputed by the two pilots on that Chinook.

Michael Moore Defends Brian Williams by Bashing Bush and 'Real Liars'

February 10th, 2015 6:02 PM
Michael Moore took to his Facebook account on Sunday night to unleash a lengthy post lamenting how “a man with integrity” in Brian Williams was being punished for “committing the crime of Faux Macho due to his claim of being on the wrong chopper,” while members of the Bush administration “roam free” and get away with being “the real liars who were responsible for the Iraq War.” 
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CNN: 'It's Hard' to 'Imagine a Scenario' Where Williams Survives

February 10th, 2015 4:08 PM
CNN's Brian Stelter on Tuesday suggested that it was unlikely Brian Williams could survive as Nightly News anchor, given the ongoing challenges to his honesty. The media analyst explained just how hard it would be for the anchor to get past the scandal related to lying about being struck by an RPG.

NYT Hits Brian Williams for Losing Public’s Trust Following Iraq Lie

February 10th, 2015 12:45 PM
On Tuesday, the New York Times published a blistering critique of NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams following revelations that he lied about riding in a military helicopter that was forced down by enemy fire in Iraq. Authors Emily Steel and Ravi Somaiya highlight some “sobering news” for Williams with a headline that declared “Under Fire, Brian Williams Loses Lofty Spot on a Trustworthiness…
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Comedy Central Snarks: Brian Williams 'Slow-Jamming the Truth'

February 10th, 2015 12:41 PM
Comedy Central host Larry Wilmore poked fun of NBC's Brian Williams on Monday's Nightly Show. Wilmore teased his monologue on Williams with a one-liner: "We look at our relationship with war, and revisit the movie Black Hawk Down – or as Brian Williams calls it, 'The Brian Williams Story.'" The comedian likely didn't know that the journalist actually boasted, back in 2003, that his now-…
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Jon Stewart Uses Brian Williams Scandal to Bash Bush's 'Evil' Iraq War

February 10th, 2015 11:50 AM
In a fairer world, the increasing number of lies and exaggerations arising from the Brian Williams scandal would be perfect fodder for Jon Stewart. However, it wasn't until Monday night that the liberal Daily Show anchor finally broke his silence and covered Williams and his fabricated story about being struck by an RPG during the Iraq War. Predictably, Stewart neglected mockery aimed at the NBC…

PolitiFact Refuses to Rate Williams' Iraq Fable

February 10th, 2015 10:16 AM
The political statement rating website PolitiFact, so far, has yet to label Brian Williams’ Iraq war tall-tale as “false” or even “mostly-false.” In fact a search of the site shows the most recent article on Williams, posted on their PunditFact page, is from Thursday  and it’s merely a timeline of the still-unfolding crisis for the NBC Nightly News anchor.