Brian Williams’ credibility at risk
NBC anchor says sorry for false Iraq war story
New York • NBC News anchor Brian Williams found himself the story Thursday, his credibility seriously threatened because he claimed — falsely — he had been in a helicopter hit by a grenade during the Iraq war.
NBC News officials would not say whether their top onair personality would face disciplinary action, but the Nightly News anchor for just over a decade was instantly mocked on social media.
“How could you expect anyone who served in the military to ever see this guy onscreen again and not feel contempt? How could you expect anyone to believe he or the broadcast he leads has any credibility?” wrote critic David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun.
Mr. Williams apologized Wednesday for telling the story a week earlier during a Nightly News tribute to a veteran he had befriended during a 2003 reporting trip to Iraq.
His story had morphed over the years.
Soon after the incident, Mr. Williams described on NBC how he was travelling in a group of helicopters forced down in the Iraq desert. On the ground, he learned the Chinook in front of him “had almost been blown out of the sky.”
In a 2008 blog post, he said his helicopter had come under fire from what appeared to be Iraqi farmers with rocketpropelled grenades and a helicopter in front of his had been hit.
In a 2013 appearance on David Letterman’s Late Show, Mr. Williams said two of the four helicopters he was travelling with had been hit by ground fire, “including the one I was in.”
“No kidding?” Mr. Letterman interjected. “I have to treat you now with renewed respect. That’s a tremendous story.”
It’s also a touchy topic: Members of the military who are wounded or who come under enemy fire consider themselves part of a special brotherhood and don’t like people who try to intrude, said retired U.S. Army Col. Pete Mansoor, a professor of military history at Ohio State University.
“It smacks of stolen valour,” he said.
Many people have embellished war stories. During the
So what if it was 12 years ago? I remember getting hit in third grade
2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton was derided for saying she came under sniper fire when, as first lady, she arrived at a military base in Bosnia.
Mr. Williams’ immediate issue is whether or not people believe his apology, a particular problem in an industry where credibility is crucial. The New York Daily News labelled his apology a fake. “So what if it was 12 years ago,” wrote TV editor Don Kaplan. “I remember getting hit in the head with a rock by a kid in the third grade.”