Brian Williams just shocked me.

[Buzz cook]

Last edited Fri Jul 15, 2016, 10:35 PM - Edit history (1)

OK on edit I just heard that they've got a translator now.


I'm watching the MSNBC feed about the Coupe d etat in Turkey. Brian Williams had Turkish media on and said "I wish we had some way of translating what they are saying".

Imagine that, one of the largest news organizations in the world, headquartered in NYC one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, and they couldn't get it together enough to find a translator.

I've know for years that the main stream media were a bunch of lazy stupid whores, but the depths of stupidity that statement revealed is too much to comprehend.

Googling Turkish translators in NYC got me almost 2 million hits.

God do I hate the American media.

[Hortensis]

1. This has been going on for what, two plus hours?

More? That is shocking.

[Binkie The Clown]

2. They fired all their translators so they could give that money to the investors.

Bottom line; that's all that matters.

[Buzz cook]

4. Ya, but a translator is just a phone call away and

Probably a very short cab ride away as well.

It was disappointing when the MSM closed all their foreign offices. It wasn't just TV it was newspapers and magazines as well.

[XemaSab]

6. Short cab ride? More like a short cab DRIVE.

#stereotypes

[Shankapotomus]

17. Can they just trust any translator on short notice?

Remember what happened to Obama at the Mandela funeral?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Smart operations plan ahead. But if you are just a conveyor belt for political talking points, ...

For 50 major languages, you can have lists of 10 trusted interpreters ready for each language, especially in a large cosmopolitan city like New York. Don't even have to have the interpreter on air if they are not good on-air personalities.

Organizing basic logistics like this is not rocket science. Likewise, the need for such contingencies can be foreseen. By spending time ahead of time it means that "short notice" is hardly a problem.

However most media operations are designed for profit and thus it is much easier for them to be conveyor belts for talking points than doing actual journalism.

[SheilaT]

51. Nicely put.

I can see why a company, even MSNBC might not want to have full-time interpreters on staff all the time, but having a list available wouldn't be that hard.

[forgotmylogin]

61. Or how about having some multilingual reporters in general?

They might have to wake them up when thing happen on short notice, but I'd guess that's what reporters live for.

[SheilaT]

64. Likewise a good idea.

Although given the extent to which Americans are (as one linguist put it so vividly) world class monolinguists, that means they'd be hiring a bunch of foreign reporters.

[jumptheshadow]

27. No, but they should have a vetted list

They market themselves as being on the cutting edge. But that means you need to have a go-to list of vetted translators or interpreters in order to keep up with global news.

It is a tremendous investment but also is the difference between professional and bush league.

[TeamPooka]

41. The right Rolodex is all anyone needs. NBC has no contacts I guess.

[upaloopa]

3. He can't translate what is happening in the videos.

Not can't translate words

They don't know what side the people in the videos are on

[Mike Nelson]

5. Well, he needed...

...legal fees. the Morning Joe team needs more money to advise Trump and point out Hillary had an email problem...

[procon]

7. Probably not so much the fault of the American media as it is a reflection of Brian Williams.

He comes from an era where he relied on an experienced staff to provide him with everything he needed to look like a professional journalist. Absent his minions, the poor old dear probably doesn't have a clue about how to locate someone to translate for him.

He's long past his shelf date and the age of technology has bypassed his limited skillset a long time ago.

[Buzz cook]

9. There's gotta be someone in the studio with a clue.

Brian isn't the only one there surely.

[napi21]

18. They had someone on a feed from Turkey for a while, but ost the feed.

I think what they're really looking for is someone THERE to give a real feel for what's going on, not just translating a video.

[newthinking]

32. I can't believe anyone expects much at all from MSM "News"

About all they can read is prepared pieces, many of which are slanted for one particular interest or another at best (if they are not flat out misrepresenting the news).

What we are looking for is "investigative Journalism", having a number of sources, paying for flights when necessary, etc. Which is long gone from MSM.

They make far more money by following the lead of their corporate masters and free government materials or using emotional and charged language to work up people to keep glued.

[napi21]

49. True investigative reporting has been gone for a long time.

Honestly, I think Rachel does a pretty good job with most of what she covers on her show. Certainly no Walter Cronkite,, but the news of his kind is long gone!

She seems to always have informed guests on to explain the different situations.

[Warpy]

8. Corporate fuckheads

and they have absolutely no clue that all they have to do to get a translator is fucking look in the Yellow Pages--or just Google, like you did.

I doubt it would be a huge problem to find one here in NM, and this isn't a port of entry like NYC is.

[dhol82]

10. Damn, they could have probably run down to their local CVS

They have a list of translators at the pharmacy counter.

[Warpy]

14. Right, or any hospital in town

There are probably Turkish doctos and nurses on staff at all of them in addition to the list of translators.

It never took me more than two hours to find a translator at Mass. General, no matter how far offshore the language originated.

[Dustlawyer]

60. They could do what we do, call a University language department. NY may have a few of those

to choose from!

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

67. Bingo...

... and probably certified or one that certifies course graduates for official/legal translators and/or interpreters.

[madamesilverspurs]

11. Cut him some slack.

He'd probably been rehearsed to cut away to any empty podium awaiting a Trump utterance.

[malaise]

19. You win the thread

He's a bigger tool these days - they own him for hiring an exposed LIAR

[ThoughtCriminal]

12. Journalists

Something broadcast news networks used to have.

[Surya Gayatri]

13. That blew me away, too. What a two-bit, one-horse operation.

And, they advertize themselves as an international news organization. Pfffftttt!

[Ilsa]

15. He and a guest were saying what a HUGE surprise this

is to them, that they had no idea such a thing as a coup could be in the works.

Now I don't consider myself to be the best or worst informed person in the US. But even I knew there were issues with Erdogan, Islamization, the Syrian confluct, etc. It seemed easily possible that the current govt could be attacked ot toppled in the next few years.

Williams is a talking suit, and msnbc is a joke.

[El Supremo]

16. Add to that that their newsroom went down.

They had to go to another facility who were even more clueless.

I saw someone shot! And Williams didn't even know it!

[jtuck004]

20. So the viewers are, basically, watching some guy who doesn't know any more than they do,

watch tv. Soon they will vote.

This is a wonderful country.

[Different Drummer]

21. +1

[asiliveandbreathe]

23. In telecommunications where I worked for 30 years...

I had a list of people - with tel #s - and the language they could translate - so that we could communicate with our customers regarding their service or billing - ....now you are telling me MSNBC doesn't have this capability???? pathetic.....

[yardwork]

24. Really nothing more to say.

[trof]

25. Sad

Really

[Renew Deal]

26. There are lots of Turks in NYC

[ReRe]

28. Not really hard to understand...

... after all, it's big Corporate Media Business. They are saving a buck. Rather than keep interpreters on retainer, they just call them when they need them. And apparently they don't even do that anymore. They expect their talking heads to cover for them.

M$M = worthless

[Straw Man]

29. NYC is the home of the United Nations, FFS.

Some of the world's finest simultaneous interpreters are employed there. Shouldn't major news organizations have some on file?

[DianaForRussFeingold]

30. The Young Turks: LIVE Show 07.15.16

I hope this helps.


The Young Turks: LIVE Show 07.15.16

Prayers for the people of Turkey!

[newthinking]

33. They may not have all the resources but they have a far better understanding

of what is happening in these regions and are willing to do the work and research.

Not quite as good as it would be to have truly investigative media, but the fact that it is reality based and interested in the truth makes TYT far superior to the MSM.

Thanks for the link!

[Leith]

34. I Was Just Thinking of Cenk

Do you think that MSNBC is sorry that he's not around any more?

Naaaahhhhh....

[NuclearDem]

38. Asshole who named his show after the people who carried out the Armenian Genocide.

Fuck him.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

44. :( Do you want me to remove it

I'm sorry to say that most of us know very little History.
https://www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_armeniangenocide.html

[NuclearDem]

46. That wasn't directed at you. I apologize for making it seem that way.

I just personally have huge issues with Cenk Uygur.

No worries, it happens.

[WhollyHeretic]

53. I have never really paid attention to him but I didn't know that. i just did a quick google and saw

he is also an Armenian Genocide denier? Holy Crap. Glad I never watched him

[NuclearDem]

55. Yeah, basically.

The worst part is he basically has an Armenian-American cohost as a "BLACK FRIEND, NOT RACIST" kind of ploy.

[theaocp]

66. This won't change ur mind

But damn. U are either painfully ignorant of the context of the naming of the show, as well as the hiring of his cohost or ur just lying. U better let her family know of his hidden agenda, bc he's going to fucking officiate her wedding with quite a few Armenians in attendance. Educate urself and stop spewing this nonsense.

[NuclearDem]

70. "Educate urself"

"urself"

Uh huh.

https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/after-years-of-denying-the-armenian-genocide-cenk-uyguar-now-admits-he-doesnt-know-enough-about-it-to-say-anything/

Every open-minded person who has looked at the evidence agrees that this genocide happened—except for Turks. (To start reading about the evidence, go here, here, here, here, here, or look at the references in the Wikipedia article.) The notion that their country could commit such unspeakable crimes is completely unpalatable to them, and many (but not all!) Turks simply deny that the genocide happened. I’ve encountered this denial several times when visiting Turkey, and believe me, you don’t want to talk about the issue if you don’t know whom you’re talking to. The attitude of many Turks is the equivalent of those who deny the Nazi Holocaust despite insuperable evidence.

Curiously, one of the Armenian Genocide deniers has been Cenk Uygur. It may be relevant that he was born in Turkey, though his family moved to America when he was young. In 1991, while at the University of Pennsylvania, Uygur wrote an article for The Daily Pennsylvanian (the student newspaper) called “Historical Fact or Falsehood“, which is straight-out genocide denialism, imputing false claims of genocide to Armenian demands for land and money. An excerpt:

Hence, once you really examine the history of the time it becomes apparent that the allegations of an Armenian Genocide are unfounded. So the question arises of why the Armenians would bother to conjure up such stories, and even go as far as, committing approximately 200 acts of terrorism since 1973 to further their cause, resulting in countless deaths and injuries to government officials and civilians. The answer is that they want their demands met. Their demands are that they receive close to one-half of the land of the Republic of Turkey for a new Greater Armenia, and that every Armenian claiming to be injured by the alleged genocide be compensated with cash reparations. That is why every year they push the U.S. Congress to pass a bill declaring the Armenian Genocide a historical fact. Fortunately, every year it is defeated because of the courage of people such as the 69 professors who wrote in to explain the truth of the matter.

...

One might think that, after 25 years, it was finally time for Uygur to admit the existence of that genocide. Did he do that? Not that I can see. All he says is that he’s a “very different person,” doesn’t stand by his denialism of the past, and henceforth is going to shut up about the issue. After all, he was not a “scholar of history”. (If he used that excuse all the time, he couldn’t say anything about history.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Turks

The struggle between the two groups of Young Turks ended in January 1913, when the top leadership of the CUP seized personal power from Freedom and Accord in the Raid on the Sublime Porte. The subsequent CUP-led government was headed by interior minister and Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha. Working with him were war minister Enver Pasha and naval minister Djemal Pasha. These "Three Pashas", as they came to be known, exercised absolute control over the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1918, bringing the country closer to Germany, signing the Ottoman–German Alliance to enter the Empire into World War I on the side of the Central Powers,[6][7][8] and carrying out the Armenian Genocide.[9] Following the war, the struggle between the two groups of Young Turks revived, Freedom and Accord Party regaining the control of the Ottoman government and Three Pashas fleeing into exile. Freedom and Accord rule was short lived, however, and the empire soon collapsed.

He's an asshat who went from outright denying the genocide and accusing the Armenians of faking it, to simply going with the "I'm not a scientist/historian/lawyer" copout to still deny that it happened in the face of overwhelming evidence that it did.

When you have that kind of history with Armenian Genocide denial, it's really hard to say you named your show after a reform movement, rather than the people who carried out one of the worst ethnic cleanings of the 20th century.

[theaocp]

71. It's kind of like not naming "radical Islamist jihadism"

ends the discussion. Again, I'm not going to change your mind, but you should really watch more of the show and dig into his co-host's discussions on this topic. You seem to have a very low opinion of her, despite her defense of the reality of the genocide. Also again, he is officiating her wedding. Do you think her family is unaware of the circumstances and hate you think he holds?

[Rex]

72. LOL. You should have been around when he got pissed off in an airport!

You would have thought he was trying to commandeer the plane! People were losing their minds here! It was embarrassing. His show is fine, some folks will always be anti-fanboys etc..

[NuclearDem]

73. "some folks will always be anti-fanboys"

And some will always be genocide deniers.

[lapucelle]

31. As an aside, I heard Williams describe the truck used in the attack as

"a large truck of the smaller type."

[IronLionZion]

35. Online news might be better than cable tv in this situation

especially wire services that have people on the ground there

Here's BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-36811357

[shadowmayor]

36. Maybe BriWi

Thought he was getting shot at again? They call these people readers in Britain.

[miyazaki]

37. Reminds me when CNN laid off their science reporter

then scrambled to find someone, anyone, to blurb about anything science related during a breaking news event, often times the weatherman, or the travel reporter, rofl. Fucking losers.

[TonyPDX]

39. You'll never be shocked if you underestimate old media. n/t

[Yavin4]

40. The UN is few blocks away

Just saying.

[awoke_in_2003]

42. He told the truth?

That is VERY shocking.

[ToxMarz]

43. Brian Williams has pretty much shown himself to be nothing more than

A pretty face and a pretty voice. He got over for a long time. Much like Luke Russet, but he's not so pretty or great to listen to (more of a tribute hire.)

[MoonRiver]

45. Brian Williams is worthless!

In fact, MSNBC is practically worthless, with a few notable exceptions. Don't know what's happened to that place.

[MFM008]

47. Because trump............

If he was puking in public they would leave to cover it.
THAT they know about.

[Wisc Progressive]

48. I understand your shock, but please think about how much worse it would be if

Brian Williams had claimed to have been in Nice, chasing the truck, and doing the translation. Please give the guy some credit for not telling sociopathic lies again.

[HeiressofBickworth]

50. I worked for an engineering company with clients all over

We maintained a list of our very own employees who spoke another language and thier level of knowedge (spoken, written or both). It wouldn't have taken long to find a translator. I expect so much more from an organization holding its self out as news experts. I watch less and less of MSN because of this kind of failure.

[IADEMO2004]

52. Luke Russert was their only Turkish translator.

nt=not true

[Buzz cook]

54. OK they have a translator now nt.

nt

[mwooldri]

56. I guess NBC isn't an international broadcaster after all.

I bet the folks at BBC Turkish are working overtime...

[rladdi]

57. You realize that MSNBC fires commentators all the time, The executives use them and

then fires them. There are over 25 great commentators that was on MSNBC that are not gone. So the executives of MSNBC are clueless as to what the viewers think of them.

[Hulk]

58. More exposure to amuriKKKa's stupid

Nation of morons. It's hard to soar like an eagle when you are flying with a bunch of turkeys.

Doing our best to keep us dumb.

[Politicub]

59. Better than Fox news

They were at a farm asking actual turkeys what they thought. And then translated their answers to be something like, Trumptastic.

[The Second Stone]

62. Call nearest court reporter, ask for translator refferal to translating firm

and you'd have several by mid shift.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

63. Brian Williams is a fan of Rush Limbaugh.....

So I consider him to be an idiot.

[bvar22]

65. I can't watch Brian Williams.

I had to turn off Jon Stewart whenever he had Brian Williams on as a guest.
There is something about Williams that really creeps me out,
something beyond just being just an empty suit.

[Jopin Klobe]

68. Understand what we've come to in this country ...

... there is no real "profit" (re: "money&quot from reporting the news ...

... and, like fighting for your health and your life through the for-profit "health" care system without collapsing the structure of your life ...

... getting real, current, informed news to the masses through a well-organized news organization is a loosing battle ...

... because there aren't any ... well-organized news organization ... or actual, seasoned reporters ...

[LiberalFighter]

69. He is a bloviator.