Tom Brokaw wants Brian Williams fired

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Post

You know you’re in trouble when Tom Brokaw is out for your blood.

NBC’s most revered journalist is furious that Brian Williams is still in the anchor chair after he sheepishly admitted he hadn’t traveled on a helicopter hit by enemy fire.

“Brokaw wants Williams’ head on a platter,” an NBC source said. “He is making a lot of noise at NBC that a lesser journalist or producer would have been immediately fired or suspended for a false report.”

Read more: http://pagesix.com/2015/02/05/tom-brokaw-wants-brian-williams-fired/

[misterhighwasted]

1. FOX is always looking for storytellers

Perfect fit.

[ejbr]

19. +1 n/t

[jakeXT]

2. Dan Rather backs Brian Williams

Brian Williams is "an honest, decent man, an excellent reporter and anchor--and a brave one," veteran newsman Dan Rather told POLITICO on Thursday.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/02/dan-rather-backs-brian-williams-202179.html

[the_sly_pig]

11. Rathers loyalty is to his friend, not his profession.

This makes Rather a tool. F Rather.

[1monster]

25. Dan Rather has hard-earned, well-deserved reputation for integrity. He is NO tool.

[the_sly_pig]

67. We'll agree to disagree.

A national "news" broadcaster makes his bones on a claim that his transport was shot down, and then states he forgot that it wasn't?? And Rather throws in with him? The Rather that I watched in Vietnam would never have supported this behavior.

[1monster]

71. Well, I'm not one to throw stones were memory is concerned espceially about emotionally traumatic

events.

I've had an experience of that sort myself. I was convinced that I was told by someone about something devastating that happened several years before, only to realize, when pressed, that it could not have happened that way and I had learned about the incident first hand. I didn't want to remember things as they happened and obliginly, my mind smoothed over the memory and allowed me to believe that someone else told me. (Even now, I refuse to examine my memory of that time closely. There is no need.)

When one is under stress, thoughts and memories become jumbled and almost never are accurate.

If this is a one-time mismemory and Williams does not have a record of such misstatements, then I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

As for Dan Rather, I grew up with his reporting and writings and I've never seen reason to doubt his integrity. I don't see him covering for Williams; I see him stating his opinion based on experience.

[hopemountain]

73. agreed. in addition,

people experience trauma differently and the effects may last forever and color every other stressful situation in the future. i appreciate you candid perspective. unless one has experience trauma, one cannot be a true judge of another's persons experience of trauma - nor the effects.

[the_sly_pig]

75. I agree with you.

Everyone handles trauma differently.

But if only the trauma had actually occurred. Mr. Williams gained from the trauma experienced by others. Maybe being in a war zone put the zap on his head. Understandable. But when he used the experience of others to 'conflate' (his words, not mine) for personal gain, that is where I draw the line.

And he did gain. I understand and appreciate your opinion on this matter.

[Chemisse]

83. He was part of the trauma.

One of the aircraft in his group was shot at. Then he and the others were trapped there for a few days. It had to have been a really scary time. People from the shot-at plane probably spent a lot of time talking about what happened. I can see how, over a long period of time, that memory could have become incorrect - weaving together what he experienced and what the others with him experienced.

Our memories are a lot more faulty than we realize.

I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, if it is just this one incident.

[GGJohn]

84. You do know that his chopper was more than a 1/2 hour behind

the Chinook that took the ground fire?
That's not exactly in the same flight group.
Brian Williams flat out lied about being in the Chinook that took the ground fire and got caught.

[tabasco]

79. LOLOLOL

What a pantload!!

[1monster]

82. Oh? You are qualified, knowing nothing about what my family went through, and is still

going through fifteen years later, knowing nothing more than the miniscule bit I relayed here, to offer such a professional opinion?

Welcome to ignore, tabasco. Life is too short to deal with that kind of garbage.

[question everything]

22. I trust Dan Rather more than Tom Brokaw

and I would think that most DUers would feel the same.

[Fla Dem]

24. +1000 nt

[BlueCaliDem]

76. +2000 eom

[olddad56]

77. Tom Brokaw gave a keynote address at I conference I once attended. I was not impressed,

but I think that Tom Brokaw was very impressed with himself.

[mtasselin]

3. Really

Really Tom Brokaw, can you tell me one journalist that has not at one time or another who hasn't exaggerated even a little and I am not even talking about the fake news network which by the way is their norm.

[Atman]

26. He "exaggerated" this story for YEARS, not just on one report.

His so-called apology was total bullshit. He acted as if he'd only made a little mistake on his last broadcast. "Oh, I forgot, it was twelve years ago." Except for that he has been telling this LIE for TWELVE YEARS.

TWELVE YEARS.

You don't get an "Oh, sorry, I forgot" for a twelve-year lie.

[blackspade]

4. This whole story is bullshit.

The pilot of the aircraft he was in, largely corroborated his story.

[chillfactor]

6. you been listening to "faux noise?" n/t

[blackspade]

63. Have you?

[carla]

7. No, he did not.

Why try to falsify what is on the record, blackspade? The pilot of the helicopter clearly stated that they arrived over a half an hour after the incident with the RPGs and that they "had not encountered any small arms fire or RPG fire." The lying anchorman has already apologized for lying, so why are you here peddling this fallacy? You have egg on your face, blackspade.

[onenote]

38. I don't know what pilot you're quoting, but its not the pilot of the choopper that Williams was on

The pilot of the chopper that Williams was riding in has stated that their chopper was following in formation with the chopper that was hit by RPG fire, and that his chopper was hit by small arms fire. He also has explained why there was a time gap before the choppers reunited on the ground after the incident.

Whether this guy is telling the truth is anyone's guess. His version supports Williams in some respects, but not others. I suspect there will be more versions of this incident before too long.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2015/02/05/pilot-says-brian-williamss-chopper-sustained-small-arms-fire-not-rpg-fire/

[Nailzberg]

46. Since yesterday, that pilot has recanted. Says Williams wasn't on his aircraft after all.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/media/stelter-iraq-pilots/

[onenote]

53. Thanks. Had not seen that.

You would think that there would be some official report somewhere that would indicate what happened, who was piloting, etc etc.

[blackspade]

64. Yummy, Eggs....

[Demit]

8. I agree. After reading a bit about it, I don't think Williams is a bad guy.

He remembered something a bit wrong, but it was a dramatic situation, and memory is a weird thing, and not all the guys involved saw exactly the same sequence of events anyway. The helicopter pilot has the right take on it, I think.

[Atman]

28. He didn't "remember it a bit wrong."

He's been repeating the story for twelve years. He fabricated a story for a sensationalist pro-war "news" broadcast. All he left out was Jessica Lynch and throwing babies out of incubators! It was PROPAGANDA for his corporate master, defense contractor General Electric.

[Demit]

31. I don't think your hyperbole is warranted.

I read John Cole's posts over at Balloon Juice and agree with him that this is pretty much of a nothingburger. At the very least, it isn't as clearcut as you seem to think it is. I don't care enough, really, to get into a back & forth about it...I think Brian Williams is full of himself but I don't think he's a creep. But if you haven't seen what Cole (ex-military, ex-Repub) said, give it a look:


"…Brian Williams is a civilian with no training whatsoever. He was probably all hopped up on adrenaline just being on the helicopter, let alone in the desert during a war, and then to be told that someone had been hit, etc. I can see how years later it would all run together. Hell, a simple combat landing in a plane would make many civilians think they had been hit by a nuke. I have no practical experience, but I imagine it would be just as dramatic in a helicopter.

…

"Williams isn’t the only one whose memory faded and is inaccurate. The soldiers who accused Williams of lying also have some facts wrong- They claim he was on a chopper an hour behind them, when he was on the Chinook right behind them. What happened was he was with them when the RPG hit the shithook, but they then flew off to drop off their payload, returned to the downing an hour later, and that is why the soldiers “remember” him not being around during the RPG incident at all.

As someone noted earlier in the other post, the best that can come from this is a heightened awareness of how memory works and how dangerous eye witness testimony can be in the court of law..."

[GGJohn]

85. He didn't remember it a bit wrong,

he flat out lied about it.
You don't get something like your chopper being forced down by ground fire a bit wrong.

[Atman]

27. Absolute crock of shit.

No one is corroborating his bullshit story. The pilot, the people with him, all say the flight was 30-45 minutes behind the flight that took fire. They all say this...why are backing him up? He apologized -- kind of -- for lying. So why are you still trying to say he didn't lie?

[jeff47]

30. Because they dropped off their cargo.

The helicopter was with the group where another helicopter was hit by an RPG. All of the helicopters took small arms fire.

The helicopter containing Williams left the group to drop off the bridge component it was carrying, then returned to the rest of the group. That created the delay.

[Atman]

32. But that isn't what he said. He lied about.

So he was "in the group." He was not in the helicopter he has claimed to have been in. Told the same lie for twelve years.

Hey, a business associate of mine died at WTC on 9/11, and I was just a couple of hours away. Does that give me the right to make up stories about being there with him?

[jeff47]

33. You're demanding a civilian have 100% accurate recall of a combat situation

something that combat veterans often can't do.

Williams never said "I'm a badass!!". He never said "Look how awesome I was!". He said "Thank you for protecting me after an RPG hit my helicopter".

Stop fixating on the end of that sentence, and pay attention to the beginning.

Or for a more complete discussion with actual veterans, try here.

[Atman]

36. I am demanding that a NEWS REPORTER not lie...

...in order to advance pro-war propaganda for his defense contractor "news" agency corporate master. That's all.

He is supposedly a "journalist." He's told this same lie for twelve years. If he didn't even bother to back up his story with research here, what other bullshit is he spewing? What other government press releases is he reading off the teleprompter without vetting his sources? He didn't even vet himself!

[jeff47]

39. Nope, lying requires intent and knowledge that what you are saying is not true.

Memory does not work the way you wish it did. It is never accurate, especially in stressful situations. A civilian thrown into combat is not going to remember much accurately.

The reason it wasn't vetted is it's a meaningless aside. It doesn't matter if the RPG hit his helicopter or another helicopter. Because he was not claiming the RPG hitting his helicopter made him great. You are making that claim.

[Atman]

40. No, I am not making that claim. He is.

And he has made this claim repeatedly for 12 years, as war ravaged our nation (and others). It is no different than the Jessica Lynch story, or the throwing babies from incubators story. It was not true. He did NOT just have a mistaken memory a few days ago...he has repeated this story since the day he returned, to prop up and bolster the American War Machine. And his bosses, defense contractor GE. Remember, they were all doing it back than. Chris Matthews was getting boners over Bush's codpiece. The War Machine. We were all being sold a pile of bullshit, and he was just another one of the salesmen.

[jeff47]

41. Yes, it is different than those stories.

Last edited Fri Feb 6, 2015, 02:08 PM - Edit history (1)

It is no different than the Jessica Lynch story, or the throwing babies from incubators story.

Except those stories were told in order to enrage and elevate people. "We need to fight this war because of the horrific acts of our enemies", or "look how brave our soldiers are"

Williams was literally saying "thank you" to the soldiers that protected him. That's it. He was not saying "We need to fight this war because of an RPG".

He did NOT just have a mistaken memory a few days ago...he has repeated this story since the day he returned

And?

Again, memory does not work the way you want it to. Memory is not a video recorder. Memory is assembled from feelings and emotions, and thus results in many things we think are true that are not actually true. Try this article to learn more about it.

And in fact, you are doing it here:

they were all doing it back than. Chris Matthews was getting boners over Bush's codpiece.

The "codpiece" incident happened long after the invasion. Long after we said "whoops, no WMDs". Long after much of the cheering had gone away. Yet you're citing it as part of cheering on the invasion.

[tabasco]

80. Hsahahahahahaha!!

What a crock!

The douchebag "journalist" wasn't in combat. DUH.

[jeff47]

91. Reading. You should try it sometime.

Then you might actually learn something.

[tabasco]

99. Combat. You should try it sometime.

Either that or look it up in the dictionary.

[former9thward]

44. "All of the helicopters took small arms fire."

Untrue. The helicopter Williams was in did not receive ANY fire.

Pilot of Brian Williams’ flight: All that hit us was dust

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/05/pilot-of-brian-williams-flight-all-that-hit-us-was-dust/

[jeff47]

47. And other people on the helicopter say it was hit. Mostly in the bridge component slung under it.

Memory is not what we wish it was.

[former9thward]

48. Where is the link to the "other people"?

Those who know more than the pilot. Was there no conversation by these "other people" to the pilot when they were "getting hit". Or did the pilot "misremember" like Williams?

[jeff47]

50. Turns out it's the same pilot you are quoting

He changed his story. Now claims they didn't take fire, but days ago claimed they did.

http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/317739/pilot-of-brian-williams-helicopter-in-iraq-we-took-small-arms-fire/

[former9thward]

51. NBC was warned but ignored the military crew for 12 years.

The crew of the actual helicopter that was forced down knew it was a fraud.

Mr. Summerlin said that Mr. Williams’s helicopter was part of a different mission and at least 30 minutes behind theirs. His account is supported by two of the pilots of Mr. Williams’s own helicopter, Christopher Simeone and Allan Kelly, who said in an interview that they did not recall their convoy of helicopters coming under fire. After the initial piece aired on NBC in 2003, Mr. Summerlin and his crew went looking for reporters on their base in Kuwait to tell them about the inaccuracies in Mr. Williams’s reporting. Instead, they wound up leaving notes in several news vans encouraging them to get in touch. Years later, they were still frustrated by Mr. Williams’s recounting.

“When he was on the air on the Letterman show, I was going crazy,” Mr. Simeone said. “I was thinking ‘This guy is such a liar and everyone believes it.’ ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/business/brian-williamss-apology-over-iraq-account-is-challenged.html?_r=0

[jeff47]

52. And again you cite a pilot that just changed his story

As evidence that Williams was wrong.

[former9thward]

54. Go ahead and defend Williams to the end.

I guess everyone is lying except Williams. He just "misremembered" a couple petty things. No big thing....

[jeff47]

55. Hey look, I'm not actually doing that!

How odd that you misremember that.

The man was saying "Thank you". That's it. This was never a "look at how great I am". If he wants to say thank you to the troops we sent to Iraq, he can claim those troops protected him from a giant purple dinosaur for all I care.

[former9thward]

57. It was a phony attempt to thank someone by building himself up.

It was "thank you for protecting me when I was in a moment of great peril and getting my bad ass war cred". He was not in danger at all.

[Atman]

72. ^^^THIS. Propagandizing for his War Machine boss, GE.

Occums razor. Simplest explanation. The story is a total crock of shit, yet he just happened to be employed by one of the biggest defense contractors in the business, which happened to own the network he was broadcasting on. And he comes up with a fanciful story about our wonderful troops doing wonderful things to save his wonderful life because everything about the war is wonderful.

Send more bombs!

[Atman]

69. Jeff47, are you on Mr. Williams' staff or something?

Why the fealty to a liar? Do you own stock in his tv show or something? Is he paying you? Your unconditional support of a total bullshit story is rather stunning.

[whopis01]

58. Ummm... didn't you just cite a pilot who changed his story

as evidence that Williams was right?

You said

"And other people on the helicopter say it was hit. Mostly in the bridge component slung under it."

but later state that was said by the pilot who later changed his story and now claims that they did not come under fire.

Seems a little weird to complain about someone citing a pilot who changed his story when you cited a pilot who changed his story.

[jeff47]

61. Yes, it's the same pilot. That's the point.

If you claim Williams is lying due to what this pilot says, you have to explain why this pilot said something else before.

[whopis01]

87. Well how about if I claim Williams way lying and cite Williams

to make the point? Is that acceptable - because he already admitted and apologized for not telling the truth.

Or is he too unreliable of a source to cite since he changes his story as well?

[jeff47]

90. Lying requires intent.

In most people's use of the word "lie", there has to be intent to deceive. Our memories are terrible, especially in emotional charged situations. Like being concerned you will die shortly due to people shooting at you for the first time in your life.

[whopis01]

98. And I believe he did so intentionally

Like he did with his stories of dead bodies floating in the french quarter after Katrina and his bout of dysentery.

I believe he fell into the trap of conflating news and entertainment. I believe that he, in an attempt to make his stories more entertaining, has exaggerated his experiences.

I believe that he took stories that were realistic, and experienced by others in the area he was reporting from and told them as if it happened to him, in order to make it more captivating and personal.

[blackspade]

65. Maybe because I watched this?

maybe there are several different threads of info?

[Atman]

70. "We were stuck...four birds in the middle of the desert."

Who wrote this shit for him? The CIA or the State Department? What a crock of patooiy.

[former9thward]

43. The pilot said the exact opposite.

Pilot of Brian Williams’ flight: All that hit us was dust

I was the pilot in command of the flight that carried Brian Williams into Iraq in March 2003.
The mission was to deliver bridges to the Objective Rams region in order to support our ground-force advancement. We were briefed that we would be operating forward of the line of troops and that the objective was unsecure.

We were a flight of two, and I was the rear aircraft. Our flight to Objective Rams was uneventful, with the exception of a desert dust storm that caused deteriorating conditions not suitable for flight.

We determined that we would not make it back to Kuwait as planned. When we arrived at Objective Rams, we found a US armor unit on the objective. There was also a CH-47 from the “Big Windy” unit out of Germany.

The CH-47 was already shut down, and the entire crew was no longer at the aircraft. We dropped off the bridges and landed next to the parked CH-47 and the Bradley Fighting Vehicles due to the weather.

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/05/pilot-of-brian-williams-flight-all-that-hit-us-was-dust/

[blackspade]

66. Which time?

The pilot has made several different conflicting statements....

[former9thward]

74. So now the pilot is lying?

And Williams knows better than everyone else on the coper? Ok, got it...

[blackspade]

78. If that is your interpretation....

[Enrique]

5. rawr!

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Who really cares, anyway?

Most all of the the truly good ones are long gone.

[the_sly_pig]

10. I think Brokaw still thinks the media has integrity.

Someone should let him know that is not the case anymore.

[Turborama]

29. Yeah, true. Reminded me of this meme...

[yellerpup]

12. I tuned in NBC last night

just long enough to see if Brian still had a job. He was in the anchor chair, so I changed channels.

[Fred Sanders]

15. Did he finish his daily half hour of corporate and State propganda with another cute doggy story?

[yellerpup]

20. When I saw he was in the anchor desk

I changed channels. But, I'm sure he did his daily routine.

[LuckyLib]

49. We've noticed this as well. Turned network news off

Since it's corporate crap, drug ads and dog stories.

[Greybnk48]

13. You want to know who IS a right-wing prick?

Tom Brokaw. A few have been attacking Brian Williams for making a mistake...one...and calling him a righty. Well, he's not. But Tom Brokaw is, and always has been, a staunch right wing asshole. A Reaganite, a Bushie, an anti-Clinton and supporter of all things neocon.

This is another Dan Rather opportunistic witch hunt like at CBS to rid themselves of a liberal commentator.

[Fred Sanders]

16. Rather reported on the lies leading to the fake Iraq war and got fired..all is forgiven.

Why do the producers and executives who encouraged the Lies of Brian get off scot free?

Not like NBC is going to produce an expose on that, is there?

And watch the rest of the MSM circle the wagons around Brian...they have to to preserve what is left of the rapidly fading credibility of the entire MSM....Fox and Brian just blew it all up.

Social media are now the new guardians of democracy, the free press gave it up for money.

[liberalhistorian]

37. I don't watch Williams, so I don't know enough

to know what his political leanings are, but I do know enough to agree completely with your assessment of Brokaw; his iconic status has always driven me nuts. I live in his home state of South Dakota and, a few years ago, we lived less than fifty miles from Yankton, his hometown (in this state, that distance is nothing). I am SICK TO DEATH of the constant hero worship of him in this state, especially in Yankton, which seems to have everything from its main boulevard to the smallest antique shop named after him.

He always yammers and waxes nostalgically about how "wonderfully common sense, traditional and friendly" South Dakota is, while saying NOTHING about its horrifically, deeply engrained and institutionalized overt and blatant racism against fifteen percent of its population. And that would be the original inhabitants that were nearly wiped out due to deliberate genocide, the Sioux, who now have nine poverty-stricken reservations on the state, two of which encompass three of the poorest counties in the nation (I'm white, but I live on one of them). I'm also sick to death of his "greatest generation" crap. Yes, the generation that continued to perpetuate racism, sexism, anti-worker laws, and the flag-and-bible nationalism nonsense until finally called out on it by their children, the boomers. Bleh.

[former9thward]

45. Telling a lie over and over again for 12 years is now "making a mistake."

[Fred Sanders]

14. No, no, no! Brian will forever remind viewers that the MSM lies. A new $10 million pretty face and folks

will forget again.

[Madmiddle]

17. CBS fired Dan Rather

for less. At least Dan Father's story was proven real.

[Tom Ripley]

18. Ted Baxter sees nothing wrong with Williams' tale

"The same thing happened to me in Nam!"

[lonestarnot]

21. Didn't Hillary do something very similar?

[libodem]

23. Embedded Journalists

And the Whitehouse press corp at that time all participated in the Nationalistic Bush Regime stance or they were not allowed access. It was a sign of the times back then.

I think it was expected and approved of during the run up to the war. Not condoning this but I can see how the mood of the country influenced the behavior.

Look at how Ari Fletcher lied to us day in and day out. Remember his conscience got to him too, after a while.

People like Cheney lie all the time without any feeling that they are doing wrong. And he was the leader of the free world at the time. Look who we had in charge back then.
They consider us all rubes who deserve to be mislead because we are too stupid to handle the truth. For Cheney it's still a duty.

[fredamae]

34. Why? This is What MSM

IS Now...

Brokaw is in denial if he believes MSM is Anything But "Story Hour" for kids at the library. "Fire" Williams? For What? Doing what every other "news" source Does?
If Williams is Fired, then by all means..Shut FOX "News" Down, get Morning Joke off the Air and many others as well.-It's only Fair, imo.
Imagine......Faux Outrage over Industry Standards set by the 6 or so "Information Kings" at the top of the Majority of "News" for Decades now.
Fire Brokaw.

[Fred Sanders]

35. Inter media corporate warfare will never happen, they are all in on it, no point shooting each other

[fredamae]

42. Yup...n/t

[tularetom]

56. Brain Williams is an obsequious sycophant

Let Brokaw go ahead and help Comcast get rid of him.

Then we can figure out a way to get rid of Brokaw. Just because Borkaw is an asshole does not mean that he isn't useful in getting another asshole shitcanned.

[Kaleva]

59. According to the article, Tom Brokaw is qouted as denying he wants Williams fired.

"On Friday, Brokaw responded to reports that he wanted Williams axed.

“I have neither demanded nor suggested Brian be fired,” Brokaw said in an email to The Huffington Post. “His future is up to Brian and NBC News executives.”"

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/05/tom-brokaw-wants-brian-williams-fired/

[Sarcastica]

60. Williams should resign. He has lost the most important trait necessary in his position.

Time to move on.

[calimary]

92. Welcome to DU, Sarcastica!

Glad you're here! That point is a rather uncomfortable and inconvenient 8,000-pound gorilla in the room.

A news anchor, especially at THAT level, absolutely needs credibility. Absolutely needs to be counted on. Absolutely needs to be trusted and believed. Anybody remember "Uncle Walter"? Walter Cronkite - whose widely-known and supported nickname was "The Most Trusted Man in America." Those were the days.

That's still a HUGE tradition to live up to. And not many do, nowadays. Certainly the lovely folks at Pox Noise don't know or care. Their idea of "news anchors with credibility" is about as valuable as gnat shit. And the ratings success of Pox Noise has infected the whole industry. Ask yourself - do you trust what this guy (or woman) is saying? Would you take what he/she says to the bank? Would you accept what he/she is saying on its face, or would you feel like you needed to find out a little more, dig a little more deeply, just in case they "happen to be" leaving something out? Even the New York Times is finding this a high hurdle to jump. Would you trust the NY Times now? With everything we know about them during the run-up to the Iraq War? With the whole sordid judith miller business, stove-piping unvetted raw intel directly from the vice president's office and splattering it all over the front page above the fold?

We're advised to get second opinions for our doctors' diagnoses. Now we have to do it with the "news doctors" too.

And I wonder - how much weight does Rolling Stone magazine carry now - since it came out that their big rape expose had a few holes in it? And all the ramifications for rape victims and rape treatment/response from here on? They had a STERLING reputation as one of the few investigative enterprises that A) we still have (because "I-teams" and other investigative units are expensive, labor-intensive, and employee-heavy - usually with "payoffs" that are ANYTHING BUT immediate, and news departments usually can't afford them, and their station/network management certainly doesn't want to cough up more money in the budget to pay for them, either. They never want to spend the extra money ANYWAY!). And now, Rolling Stone has been compromised, too.

Frustrating as hell. I grew up with "Uncle Walter," and the other two "uncles" - Huntley and Brinkley. I got a very ravenous taste for journalism by watching Woodward and Bernstein and how their dogged reporting - the ol' shoe-leather/multiple phone calls/digging/begging and cajoling and cultivating potential sources - eventually brought down an entire White House. I've forgotten how many Nixon people wound up going to PRISON. To PRISON!!!!!!!!! What the power of the pen can do. It was a thing of magnificence, the ultimate leveler - the ultimate equalizer, that you could speak truth to power and actually make it stick. That the little guy COULD take on the BIG guy and even win. That there were real-life Davids out there who could take down a miserable, criminal Goliath.

And we just don't have that anymore. We saw it a little bit with the whole "Je Suis Charlie" controversy. Back in the day, many of us in journalism all hoped to be, and thought we should be, the little kid who stood along the parade route and hollered out that the Emperor was out there in public, sashaying by, with no clothes on. Now, all you have for the most part is crowds along that same parade route who are little more than lazy-ass, smug, elitist chuck todd clones, fawning and scraping and whoring for that precious thing called "ACCESS," and pretending they know what they're looking at - as though their lives depend on it. Well, certainly their egos and their bank accounts do.

[BetsysGhost]

68. Brian Williams should have 1/8 of the integrity this guy did

[calimary]

93. Welcome to DU, BetsysGhost!

Good to have you with us! Yeah, there were, and ARE, members of the journalistic community who walk the walk, have actually been shot at, have actually faced the fire, gone out into the mud, put their asses on the line and got their hands dirty. Maybe Brian Williams is your standard chickenhawk - except not in politics but in journalism.

I remember when Dan Rather went to Afghanistan. He was snickered at - nicknamed "Gunga Dan," because of photos of him with those scarves on his head, dressed to blend in with the guerillas. He had the cojones to get in there and see for himself and bear witness. Reminds me of the tradition of Edward R. Murrow's "You Are There." The journalist was YOUR eyes and ears, literally going to the front lines, hand-importing the nuggets of truth back to you that you would not be in any position to go get or see or hear for yourself. They were your surrogates, your information brokers, your representatives in the field. And because they put their lives on the line to get the story, they earned serious credibility - the hard way.

Granted, I understand the wish to protect the investment that a network anchor worth a multi-million-dollar contract - don't want him blown up by some IED out there in no-man's land. I understand that network anchor wanting to protect himself. Selfishly of course cuz HE certainly doesn't want to become a battlefield statistic, and professionally/morally because he wants to stick around to be able to tell the story and relay what happened and keep the public informed. But still. You should NOT misrepresent. You don't dare. You simply can't afford to, in a job like that! Because people are depending on you and your word, and wanting to be able to take what you say to the band. And because you can't afford to allow those who then say - "well, if you lied about that, then what ELSE are you lying about?" That contingent will have just had THEIR case strengthened, and by an awful lot, too - and YOU just effectively handed that valuable and hard-won credibility over to THEM.

[tabasco]

81. This has GOT TO BE Hillary-droids

defending this POS. How utterly pathetic!

[Teutonic Samuel]

86. Tom Brokaw Refutes Report That He Wants Williams’ ‘Head on a Platter’

Tom Brokaw, who preceded Brian Williams as anchor of NBC Nightly News, is denying anonymous reports claiming that he has called for Williams to be fired from his position as NBC’s top newsman for exaggerating his wartime experience in Iraq.

In a Page Six report filed late Thursday night, an “NBC source” said, “Brokaw wants Williams’ head on a platter. He is making a lot of noise at NBC that a lesser journalist or producer would have been immediately fired or suspended for a false report.”

“I have neither demanded nor suggested Brian be fired,” Brokaw said in an email to The Huffington Post on Friday. “His future is up to Brian and NBC News executives.”

So, not exactly a defense of his successor, but nothing close to the condemnation reported by the New York Post.

Link

[calimary]

94. Welcome to DU, Teutonic Samuel!

Great to have you weigh in! I have no way of knowing this since I've been outta there for a LONG time, but I'd imagine Brokaw is trying to distance himself from mumblings he probably made - maybe in the makeup room or at some bar after work with friends and other people who may have overheard. Or friends who fancy themselves "unnamed sources" for Page Six (there's that "ACCESS" thing again! It's gotta be an ego trip when that big newspaper calls YOU for confirmation, or "the dirt" - especially if YOU yourself don't happen to be the marquee name or the on-camera talent who's famous and wears hand-tailored custom $2,000 suits and has a contract YOU would sell your grandmother for). So now he, too, is in the middle of a shit-storm and probably doesn't want to be attached to it. They all go to the same cocktail parties, too, and are fawned over by the same big names in politics and big business with whom one LOVES to be associated, because one's peers understand and respect and envy that status and prestige.

It's a strange world. Literally drowning in the cult of personality and glittering fame and obscenely big bucks and EGO-EGO-EGO - and who you get to hang out with and boast that you're thisclose friends with and you're the TOTAL insider. Hmmm... I guess that would just be more in the EGO-EGO-EGO department.

Personally, I always found Brokaw to be kind of a stuffed shirt. Too impressed with himself and his increasingly constipated delivery. And leaned way too far to the right for my liking. As he got older and more entrenched, and more of an "Elder Statesman" type, I found I trusted him less.

[quadrature]

88. travel tip...watch out for snipers when visiting Bosnia ...nt

[samsingh]

89. Tom Brokaw is a repug stooge. he used to attack msnbc for asking repugs tough questions.

[calimary]

95. True. But then again, he hung out with 'em after hours. Just like tim russert did.

They were all pals - on the tennis court/country-club/cocktail-party circuit. Toward the end, tim russert was a wholly-owned subsidiary. I do not belong to the cult of worship of tim russert. He was part of the reason bush/cheney could steal that election back in 2000, imo.

[samsingh]

97. i completely agree with you on russert. he was a repug stooge.

[greatlaurel]

96. Brokaw is a right wing ninny. No one should listen to anything he says.

I don't know why anyone on DU would listen to anything Tom Brokaw has to say. He has proved himself over and over to be a right wing stooge. He has betrayed his midwestern roots for money. Not a good guy.