Brian Williams: NBC news anchor 'temporarily' steps down

Brian Williams: NBC news anchor 'temporarily' steps down Feb 8, 2015 22:26:21 GMT

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Post by Admin on Feb 8, 2015 22:26:21 GMT

Brian Williams will take a break from anchoring the “NBC Nightly News” amid growing questions about the credibility of his reporting. Lester Holt will replace Williams for the time being, Williams wrote in a note to his staff on Saturday that said the issue has detracted from the U.S.’s most-watched nightly news broadcast. “In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions,” he wrote.

Williams didn’t mention the controversy when he anchored the show Friday evening, hours after NBC confirmed it was investigating its most prominent newsman’s on-air claims that a military helicopter he was traveling in was shot and forced down in the Iraqi desert in 2003. Williams has since retracted his account and apologized after servicemen disputed his story. The break is temporary, Williams said, writing that he needs a few days to “adequately deal with this issue.” In a story covered on “Nightly News” last week, Williams took Sergeant Major Tim Terpak, who retired with three Bronze Stars, to a hockey game at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where the veteran received a standing ovation.

New questions also have been raised about Williams’s telling of his experience during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He has said he saw dead bodies float by in the city’s French Quarter, which had minimal flood damage. That story, one of the biggest of Williams’s career, transpired the first summer after Williams took over the anchor chair in December 2004 at the Comcast Corp.-owned network. Williams has held the job ever since and is the longest-tenured of the three biggest U.S. networks’ news anchors. “Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us,” Williams wrote in the note.

Brian Williams: NBC news anchor 'temporarily' steps down Feb 11, 2015 22:29:49 GMT

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Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2015 22:29:49 GMT

"NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams is being suspended for six months without pay following revelations that he exaggerated tales from an Iraq War mission in 2003. Tuesday night's announcement capped an extraordinary and painful six-day period for the network. Television veterans could recall nothing quite like it: a network benching the face of its news division to penalize him for what the CEO of NBCUniversal, Steve Burke, called "inexcusable" actions. There is a widespread belief among rank-and-file NBC staffers that he may never actually return to the anchor chair he has held since 2004.

Meanwhile, NBC's investigative unit is continuing to fact-check Williams' past reports, and could come up with more damaging revelations. Still, Burke said in a statement, "He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him. Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone's trust." Eight hours earlier, Williams visited Burke at the apartment Burke has on Central Park West in Manhattan. There, Tuesday evening's announcement began to take shape. NBC News president Deborah Turness informed staffers of the network's suspension decision at a 7:15 p.m. meeting, held minutes after Williams' fill-in, Lester Holt, finished anchoring Tuesday's "NBC Nightly News." "The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately," Turness wrote in a memo.

All,

We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately. We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News. Our review, which is being led by Richard Esposito working closely with NBCUniversal General Counsel Kim Harris, is ongoing, but I think it is important to take you through our thought process in coming to this decision. While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian's position.

In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field. As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times. Steve Burke, Pat Fili and I came to this decision together. We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work Brian has done and the special relationship he has forged with our viewers over 22 years. Millions of Americans have turned to him every day, and he has been an important and well-respected part of our organization. As I'm sure you understand, this was a very hard decision. Certainly there will be those who disagree. But we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action. This has been a difficult time. But NBC News is bigger than this moment. You work so hard and dedicate yourselves each and every day to the important work of bringing trusted, credible news to our audience. Because of you, your loyalty, your dedication, NBC News is an organization we can -- and should -- all be proud of. We will get through this together.

Steve Burke asked me to share the following message:
"This has been a painful period for all concerned and we appreciate your patience while we gathered the available facts. By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate. Brian's life's work is delivering the news. I know Brian loves his country, NBC News and his colleagues. He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him. Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone's trust."

Deborah

For NBC News, the rolling calamity began last month when Williams paid tribute on his newscast to a soldier who had provided security to the anchor and his NBC crew in the desert on that day in 2003. "The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an R.P.G," Williams said on-air. "Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded and kept alive by an armor mechanized platoon from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry." After a video of the segment was posted by the network on Facebook, several soldiers called out Williams for stretching the truth. Williams, it turned out, had not been on the helicopter that was hit by an R.P.G. Williams apologized last Wednesday, both on Facebook and on "Nightly News," but what he said raised more questions than answers, and the controversy swelled over the next three days.