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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBrian Williams Misleads Viewers in His Apology for Misleading Viewers
News anchor Brian Williams delivered a 60-second apology to his viewers Wednesday night for "mis-remembering" an incident during his reporting on the Iraq War twelve years ago. However, he misled his viewers while apologizing for misleading them.
While explaining that he was not in a military helicopter that had to land after coming under fire as he had been claiming, Williams said:
"I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."
While it is technically true that Williams was in "a following aircraft," he neglected to explain that he was in an aircraft that followed the one hit by RPG fire by an entire hour. The way Williams phrased it, "I was instead in a following aircraft," makes it sound like he was right behind the copter in question.
According to the military's Stars and Stripes, the organization that exclusively broke the story on Williams' tall tale (emphasis added):
The admission came after crew members on the 159th Aviation Regiments Chinook that was hit by two rockets and small arms fire told Stars and Stripes that the NBC anchor was nowhere near that aircraft or two other Chinooks flying in the formation that took fire. Williams arrived in the area about an hour later on another helicopter after the other three had made an emergency landing, the crew members said.
Williams even repeated the "following aircraft" fabrication in greater detail on his Facebook page while apologizing to the troops:
I was indeed on the Chinook behind the bird that took the RPG in the tail housing just above the ramp.
Williams also claimed in his apology, "We all landed after the ground-fire incident and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm in the Iraqi desert." But military reporter Steve Liewer, who worked for Stars and Stripes at the time and reported on the incident, writes that crew members Lance Reynolds and pilot Chris Simeone "said they dont remember seeing Williams again" after his crew took photographs of the wounded chopper.
Williams may have survived this fabrication if he had genuinely come clean in his public apology, but with the revelation of this additional embellishment, NBC News may very well have to make a move.
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/brian-williams-misleads-viewers-his-apology-misleading-viewers
salin
(48,955 posts)I don't get the point of making the claim in the first place.
Clearly a member of the we make up the news rather than report form of fake journalism.
To think that once upon a time, I respected this guy.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Ask Gunga Dan, if only we could.
former9thward
(32,064 posts)Last edited Thu Feb 5, 2015, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)
To get some 'war cred'. And he got away with it for 12 years. Remember, not only did Williams lie but his news crew that was with him lied by covering it up for 12 years. They knew the truth and they probably told others who then knew the truth.
salin
(48,955 posts)one of those someone told someone who told someone.... finally reach someone who could check records and pass it on to the Stars and Stripes?
What a jerk. He didn't need war cred. He needed to be credibly getting stories and interviewing people who were 'on the ground'.
He deserves the mocking he's taking. He owes far more than an apology.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Hope his "Following" gets the message: The guy is a liar.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)His apology was carefully crafted by a bevy of experts attempting damage control in such a way that it will be accepted by those who want to accept it.
In other words, it is complete, fabricated bullshit
Orrex
(63,219 posts)True fact.
xocet
(3,871 posts)News anchor's apology met with cynicism from servicemembers who were there
By Travis J. Tritten
Stars and Stripes
Published: February 5, 2015
WASHINGTON Apologies by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams Wednesday for his false claim of being on a helicopter forced down by Iraqi rocket fire in 2003 left out key details and made misleading claims about his proximity to the incident, according to soldiers who were there at the time.
Williams admitted on air that he was not on the Chinook that was struck by enemy fire, saying he was instead on a following aircraft and writing a Facebook apology to soldiers saying I was indeed on the Chinook behind the bird that took the RPG. But Army flight crews told Stars and Stripes the NBC anchor was actually flying with a different helicopter company altogether in a different direction, and linked to the attacked unit by radio only.
The wording appeared to be another example of the anchor muddling the facts or providing misleading details of the incident that he covered in the opening days of the Iraq invasion. Since the 2003 incident, he has written that he came under fire and implied that his Chinook was forced down due to an attack, while soldiers said it was landed amid deteriorating weather conditions during a sandstorm.
I think it is misleading for Williams to say his aircraft was following behind the Chinook hit by two rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, said David Luke, a retired soldier from Texas who was a flight engineer with a company of the helicopters under the 159th Aviation Regiment, which was known as Hercules and based out of Savannah, Ga.
...
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/brian-williams-apology-leaves-out-key-details-of-iraq-incident-1.327935
Williams' claim and apology seem to have the same truth value as Hillary Clinton's claim that she took sniper fire in Bosnia:
By Jeff Mason
GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:01pm EDT
(Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she made a mistake when she claimed she had come under sniper fire during a trip to Bosnia in 1996 while she was first lady.
In a speech in Washington and in several interviews last week Clinton described how she and her daughter, Chelsea, ran for cover under hostile fire shortly after her plane landed in Tuzla, Bosnia.
Several news outlets disputed the claim and a video of the trip, showed Clinton walking from the plane, accompanied by her daughter. They were greeted by a young girl in a small ceremony on the tarmac and there was no sign of tension or any danger.
"I did make a mistake in talking about it, you know, the last time and recently," Clinton told reporters in Pennsylvania where she was campaigning before the state's April 22 primary. She said she had a "different memory" about the landing.
...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/03/26/us-usa-politics-clinton-idUSN2540811420080326
GeorgeGist
(25,322 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)jollyreaper2112
(1,941 posts)Hillary lied about being under fire landing in Kosovo. You don't get this shit wrong by accident, it's on purpose. Thing is, it's not like saying you took sniper fire at the latrine with no one around. You're on an aircraft with crew. They take fire with a big-name VIP, they'll remember! And if nothing like that ever happened, they'll remember that, too. WTF? Seriously.
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)colossal fuck up.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)Five words, two seconds.
Case closed.
former9thward
(32,064 posts)The network would fire him. Now they have some wiggle-room.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)If there were such a thing as journalistic malpractice, this would qualify, in my personal opinion. Oh well.
onenote
(42,737 posts)One that actually supports some aspects of Williams' version. In particular, the pilot of the chopper in which Williams was riding has explained that the chopper that was hit by RPG and the chopper that Williams was in (along with a third chopper) were flying in formation when the RPG and small arms fire began. When the lead chopper was hit, the other choppers (according to the pilot) took evasive action, completed its task (dropping off materials) and then re-united with the other choppers on the ground 45 minutes later.
If true, then Williams' statement about being in a following aircraft that was under fire (albeit not the one hit by the RPG) would be accurate. His other characterizations of the event -- including all four choppers landing quickly -- are not supported by the version of the pilot of his chopper.
I'm sure we will hear from others who were part of that mission before this is over. And I won't be surprised if there are more versions.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/media/brian-williams-iraq/index.html
deaniac21
(6,747 posts)moondust
(20,002 posts)that eventually the truth would surface on the Internet or other media. In a serious situation like that you simply can't expect all the witnesses to keep lying for you. Why would they? I think Williams is smart enough to know better. But I don't know how or why the story got twisted. Maybe some semantic confusion over "we" (as in "our group" came under fire or chaos of battle or something?
Weird.
Saucepan of Kerbango
(48 posts)Completely lost respect for Williams. What pisses me off worse is that the crew of that helo has been listening to him brag and had to choke on it. I'm glad they finally dropped a dime on him.
Zavulon
(5,639 posts)The lie was bad enough, but his "apology" and excuses were a fucking insult. Dan Rather lost his job for a lot less.