TOW #19 (Article): Brian Williams

In recent news, a lot of talk has been going on about Brian Williams and his 6 month suspension from NBC. Apparently, Williams lied when telling a story about how his crew's helicopter was forced down after being hit with an RPG. This spread like wildfire in the media and many people were outraged. "As being one who delivers important news, Brian should have known better; we trusted him," many people say. However, the Rolling Stone seems to disagree on the subject matter. There is a fine line between a lie and a misunderstanding according to this magazine, and Brian Williams is not at fault here. In fact, in a recent article, Rolling Stone writes " TV news is smoke and mirrors. We are supposed to forget that. It is presented to us so seamlessly. Here is a man we trust, an omniscient man (sometimes a woman, but not often), telling us the story of the days' events. In many ways, it is a cultural role as old as language. Brian Williams is the storyteller, the bard. He possesses special knowledge. He imparts the oral history. But it is an illusion" (1). What the magazine is hinting at is that there is a lot of things that go on behind the scene. For example, Williams is not just saying this story from memory; he's reading off a teleprompter. Also, many writers, producers, broadcast techs, and operators are in charge of reading over the script, verifying the story, and setting up Brian for his hour or so of news. Therefore, NBC can't just blame him solely for the wrongful sentence that was said on air. Also, if so many people look over the work, and there was still an error to be found, wouldn't it be considered a mistake instead of a lie? A mistake is something that happens by accident and is not intentional. However, a lie requires thought beforehand in order for it to be successful. So, if Brian was reading from a teleprompter, where would he have just made up this lie of the helicopter crashing down? Obviously it was an error in the script or the studio wanted him to lie for a greater effect. If that is true then Williams should not be facing a suspension for something he didn't do without the studio's approval. Ultimately, Rolling Stone does not think Brian Williams is to blame here.