Williams suspended for doing what we all do: embellishing
NEW YORK — Brian Williams had been a trusted voice in news for decades until questions arose last week about his credibility when he admitted he embellished a story he covered in Iraq.
Some speculate the NBC News anchor started telling tall tales to appear more interesting as he made the rounds on the late-night talk shows. Others suggest he caved to the pressure to sound anything but boring in an insatiable social media-driven society.
Williams was suspended Feb. 10 by the network for six months for stretching the truth, a stunning fall from grace, but he’s far from alone. Puffing up one’s experiences — whether it’s falsifying a resume or exaggerating stories to amplify the derringdo factor — is something everyone does for myriad reasons, whether they admit it or not, experts say.
“Any human being who tells you they have never embellished their own life story is probably lying,” said Bob Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. “My story of how hard it was to get home in the snow on Monday is a lot better on Wednesday. There are all kinds of new things, like abominable snowmen.”
Williams had claimed in numerous reports and appearances that he was riding in a helicopter that was hit by a grenade. But last week, when he was exposed, he admitted that another helicopter — not his — was struck.
There’s an irresistible temptation to improve a story and make it more dramatic, Thompson said. In recent years, examples of politicians in particular fibbing about their experiences abound.
Hillary Rodham Clinton later said she misspoke after claiming on the presidential campaign trail in 2008 that she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire in 1996, a memory that turned out to be untrue. Also in 2008, U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden said his helicopter was forced to land by al-Qaida in Afghanistan. In reality, the chopper made a speedy landing because of a snowstorm.
The Williams debacle is a classic example of people using counterfeit credentials to demonstrate their relevancy and to spin their own personal narrative to stay in the limelight, said Matthew Randall, executive director of the Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania.
People usually embellish their credentials by falsifying information on their resumes or LinkedIn profiles — or they tell tall tales at cocktail parties about what they’ve done in the past.
“So the bottom line is that Brian Williams is 100-percent normal,” Takooshian said.