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NBC News announced that nightly news anchor Brian Williams will be off the air for six months of suspension without pay for embellishing his personal tales. “This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position,” Deborah Turness, the president of NBC News, said in an internal memo. Lester Holt will continue filling in for Williams on the evening news.
Brian Stelter of CNN observed that two of the biggest media stories of the year broke within an hour of each other — the first being that Jon Stewart is leaving "The Daily Show."
More from Stelter, the former New York Times TV reporter:
NBC News president Deborah Turness informed staffers of the network's decision at a meeting shortly after Williams' fill-in, Lester Holt, finished anchoring Tuesday's "NBC Nightly News."
"The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately," Turness wrote. "We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News."The announcement follows a morning meeting between Williams and the CEO of NBCUniversal, Steve Burke, at Burke's apartment.
Burke said in a statement on Tuesday night, "By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate."
Reactions from NBCers: "I am gobsmacked." "No guarantee of coming back." "Humiliating for this whole network." "I don't see how he returns."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 11, 2015Turness' memo to the NBC News staff:
All,
We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately. We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News.Our review, which is being led by Richard Esposito working closely with NBCUniversal General Counsel Kim Harris, is ongoing, but I think it is important to take you through our thought process in coming to this decision.
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 clear 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.
In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field.
As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times.
Steve Burke, Pat Fili and I came to this decision together. We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work Brian has done and the special relationship he has forged with our viewers over 22 years. Millions of Americans have turned to him every day, and he has been an important and well-respected part of our organization.
As I'm sure you understand, this was a very hard decision. Certainly there will be those who disagree. But we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action.
This has been a difficult time. But NBC News is bigger than this moment. You work so hard and dedicate yourselves each and every day to the important work of bringing trusted, credible news to our audience. Because of you, your loyalty, your dedication, NBC News is an organization we can -- and should -- all be proud of. We will get through this together.
Steve Burke asked me to share the following message:
"This has been a painful period for all concerned and we appreciate your patience while we gathered the available facts. By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate. Brian's life's work is delivering the news. I know Brian loves his country, NBC News and his colleagues. He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him. Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone's trust."
Deborah
More from the New York Times story on Williams:
His departure culminated a rapid and startling fall from grace for Mr. Williams, who at age 55 was the head of the highest-rated evening news show, the winner of top industry accolades, a coveted speaker at dinners and panels and a frequent celebrity guest on entertainment shows.
On his nightly newscast on Feb. 4, Mr. Williams admitted that he had embellished his account of being on a helicopter that was hit by enemy fire in 2003, and apologized to viewers for misleading them. In the days that followed he came under a barrage of criticism from military veterans, media commentators and viewers who claimed he had lost the trust so critical to a network news anchor.Three days later he announced he was stepping aside temporarily from his show because he had become “too much a part of the news.” The news came after NBC started an investigation into Mr. Williams and his reporting from Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and any other news event that it deemed necessary to review….
His departure is another blow for the NBC news division under its new chief, Ms. Turness. Since arriving in 2013, she has had to replace David Gregory as host of “Meet the Press” and fire, after only 10 weeks, an executive she hired to oversee the “Today” show. NBCUniversal’s cable news channel, MSNBC, also has been saddled by sharply declining ratings. (Ms. Turness does not oversee MSNBC.)
Also this:
What a day. pic.twitter.com/TWNnYm1BKp
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) February 11, 2015