Brian Williams Criticized

Article Rebuttal

Barry Heaton

BCOM/275

2/12/2015

Richard Landesman

Article Rebuttal

In recent events Brian Williams, a well-known news reporter with NBC News was criticized for lying about a story he has been telling since 2003. The nightly news reporters bid for self-glorification by falsely claiming he was in a U.S. military helicopter forced to land in the Iraqi desert after being hit by ground fire, and rockets are what has everyone talking. But was he just doing his job? Telling stories that are in most cases scripted out and reviewed by several people before being put on the air, all for the sole purpose to misinform, instill fear in the public and fund the war machine? I believe this is something that all newscasters do.

The public and media

The majority of the public these days I feel are very ignorant about everything they see and hear on the news or social media sites, and in their defense it isn't necessarily their fault they do not realize that the media is a propaganda source for the war and politics. I feel like Brian Williams was in fact doing his job reporting on events that were occurring in the Middle East. He was paid to write stories of interest on current political and social events that are taking place. This is something that all reporters do, they have their opinions I am sure, but their job is to do just that, tell stories. The most disturbing thing about the article I read was that they had completely cut off the once trusted news anchor, suspended for six months without pay.

In a memo released by NBC news it states that they were not aware “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 apparent 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.” (Chariton, 2015). In my opinion, I feel like this is an attempt to sweep dust under a rug and make the judging eyes of the public feel like justice was served in their favor. But the truth is this is what media does, now that they are taking fire for untrustworthy actions they will now spin another story in order to save their jobs by sacrificing one.