Bill Maher: "Williams Shouldn't Go Away Because He Lied-He Should Go Away Because NBC News Sucks"

[kpete]

Last edited Sat Feb 14, 2015, 11:26 AM - Edit history (1)

Transcript of the clip montage

Brian Williams shouldn't have to go away because he lied. He should have to go away because the NBC Nightly News sucks. And so does the CBS evening News with Scott Pelley and ABC News World Tonight.

Brian Williams’ lie about the helicopter? That didn’t destroy his credibility with me. Ten years of wasting precious news time on bullshit stories about car chases and bears in the swimming pool and store clerks fighting back and returning soldiers surprising their kids at the big game and Power Ball jackpots and stupid Spanish tomato fights. That’s what destroyed his credibility with me. …

I know what you are thinking. Who cares bill nobody watches broadcast news anyway. … No. Actually over nine million people watch Brian Williams every night, about twelve times more than CNN.

Delivering the news is a sacred responsibility. It is telling us the important things we need to know. It shouldn’t be a race to the bottom over who can attract more eyeballs with titillation. If it is let’s get it over and show porn in the last segment. …

And we are almost there. The new thing is just to show a Youtube clip that’s gone viral. It is like the news brought to you by your biggest stoner friend. …

You have twenty two minutes to bring us the world. How does that leave time for the four minute segment on the basset hound that found his way home?

Here is a crazy thought. Cut the story where the high school sweethearts reunite and get married at eighty and take an extra minute to link your endless weather stories to climate change. …

Last year the NBC Nightly News spent a total of 25 minutes all year on climate change, the most important issue of our time. This is journalistic malpractice. And it is why I never thought of Brian Williams as a reporter to begin with. Because every night it is the same thing on the news. A couple of minutes at the top for the big story of the day unless God forbid it’s going to snow. If it’s going to snow on the East Coast, you know, where they live, and then nothing else is happening in the entire world. …

This obsession with weather in the national news is especially bizarre because if there is one thing that isn’t national it is weather. Anyway after we get through with the weather report, and maybe some shots of whatever photo op the President arranged that day, it’s time for the medical segment which is usually on obesity and a great excuse to run endless footage of fat people whose faces we do not see. … And then they interview a doctor who says big fad leads to obesity. Thanks doc.

Then the twenty two minutes are almost up. It is time for everyone’s favorite part of the broadcast, the feel good human interest story because America, you’ve worked hard. You’ve had to sit through two, maybe three minutes of hard news. And you deserve a break. Something to make you feel ‘Gosh maybe the world isn’t so bad after all. ‘

Here is a story about a paraplegic climber who scaled a mountain, a latch key kid who ran a can food drive to cure cancer, the pitcher who won the big game to honor his dead twin brother, a hotel that welcomes guests with rescue puppies, a Minnesota high school basketball team on a winning streak, and old Black veteran who is blind but he still drives the school bus. Yes they are all great heartwarming stories. And there is a place for them. It is called Reader’s Digest.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/bill-maher-skewers-network-newscasts-i-never-thought-of-brian-williams-as-a-reporter-to-begin-with/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/14/1364392/-Bill-Maher-excoriates-Brian-Williams-and-broadcast-media-for-being-derelict

[underpants]

1. Spot on

[billhicks76]

11. Agreed But

I think our real problem with lying into more wars and crimes is with Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. If Hillary was really one of us she would rip him apart personally. All the carnage that family is responsible for...c'mon. But she won't. She will treat him with respect and even personally elevate him. Another Bush shouldn't even be entertained but they know who is in charge and being intimate family friends they will bow. We shouldn't be putting up with this game. Do something.

[Cryptoad]

13. "one of us"?????

Is there a purity test to go along with that? geez

[billhicks76]

24. Uh Yeah There Is

She's a Republican masquerading as a Democrat and I'm not afraid to say it. It's not a surprise she was President of The College Republicans but one would think she wouldn't have become a society surveilling war monger. The main point is she is deeply and intimately entwined personally with the Bush family and anyone who wants them out of power needs accept this fact and move forward accordingly.

[Cryptoad]

30. You make Papa Paul Proud,,,,,,,

[billhicks76]

31. Load Of Crap

Really!?! The Paul card? What a joke. That vacuous name calling doesn't work here anymore. And by the way we are talking about the Bush/Clinton connection. What the heck does your favorite bogey man have to do with anything. Grow up.

[merrily]

52. ? I thought President Cruz was the favorite bogey man.

[Dustlawyer]

51. We only get corporate politicians to choose from (at least those are the ones that Brian Williams

will talk about as having a chance). They minimize candidates that tell us the truth and focus only on the lying flag pin brigade.
Bernie a Sanders has REAL SOLUTIONS for our country that do not benefit the wealthy and corporations, but he gets marginalized for it. We here at DU profess to supporting his causes, but many here marginalize him as well. He has a plan for attacking the root cause of most of our countries problems and that is Publicly Funded Elections! Outlawing campaign contributions and locking the revolving door! We should be screaming his name, volunteering, raising money, and spreading the word! But alas, most are here only to bitch about our problems. They urge we hold our noses and vote for Hillary so the Republican Bogeymen don't win. At that rate, we go down the tube slower than we would with a Scott Walker, but we still go down the tube. Screw that!

[merrily]

53. Manny Goldstein has started a website called "Ready for Someone Else." I am not sure what he will

do with it, but I am definitely ready for someone else IRL.

[rhett o rick]

37. You heard correctly, "one of us". One of us that hate the Bush family for what they have done

to this country. H. Clinton doesn't meet that purity test. She doesn't hate the Bush Family, in fact she supported a lot of what the Bush Family did, especially their foreign policy. That's not one of us.

[billhicks76]

43. Thank You

It's a corrupt situation.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

32. The media bubble wants another Clinton v Bush match with Bush winning....

To HELL with what's good for the country.

That's because the assholes in the media are all overpaid and insulated from the problems the rest of the country has to endure. Do you think any of the clowns on Good Morning America have lost their house from a foreclosure? Most have maids and nannies and drivers. Some have huge homes with butlers and cooks.

They attend black tie events where some rich asshole is being honored by an organization of rich assholes for who was the biggest asshole that year.

[billhicks76]

44. Bill Clinton Chosen By Bush Sr

Clinton was the backup plan in case Bush lost. The only reason Bush lost was because Ross Perot entered the race. And he did so because he knew how corrupt and immoral Bush was and his running cocaine importation operations funding the Contras and others.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

46. Then Clinton dropped all prosecution of Bush and as a thanks the Republicans tried to impeach him...

This was followed by Obama wasting YEARS reaching out to Republicans.

Just ONCE I would like to see a Democrat who doesn't believe it's their job to "heal the division" and instead starts fighting back from day one.

[billhicks76]

47. Something Dark Is Going On

Last edited Sun Feb 15, 2015, 09:26 AM - Edit history (3)

They get compromised right away. Too bad JFK Jr didn't live long enough for the election that he had just indicated he was entering. And, yes, Clinton benefited Bush by withdrawing investigations. This paved way for GW Bush to be President. Obama did the same for GW by ending possible prosecutions in the guise of "looking forward". It's the only game in town where they say the past doesn't matter. And because of this scam Obama has paved way for Jeb Bush. Why not? They have gotten away with it twice already. Sickening. And corporate Dems are derelict and spineless as they allow it to happen.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

56. Republicans convinced themselves that the ONLY reason we lost Vietnam was the media...

They have been infiltrating it ever since to see to it the media is pro-Republican. As a result, when a Republican is elected the media talks about their power and authority and their mandate from the American People. When a Democrat gets elected the media talks about their need to compromise away what they ran on and their failure to get Republicans to cooperate.

[Scuba]

2. Every once in a while, Bill gets it right. This is one of those times.

[99Forever]

3. Bill Mahr can be an insufferable ass...

... but sometimes he just plain nails it. This is one of those times.

[Fred Sanders]

9. Bill is still behind the curve regarding Islam, but someone has been teaching him. Good to see.

[Paladin]

4. I loved the part about obsessive weather reporting on the East Coast.

Hey, networks: Most of us don't live in Manhattan, so if it snows there, we don't need more than 30 seconds of coverage on it.

[nirvana555]

5. well done, Billl. N/T

[Fred Sanders]

10. It was not obsessive, it was required to give cover to Republican craziness and avoid news of Obama.

CNN is the master of not bringing you the breaking news.

Even as we type CNN has their top anchors out in the snow doing a snow job of media 'coverage'.

Bets on if CNN goes to blanket to blanket snowstorm coverage for the entire weekend as peace breaks out in Europe and ISIS disintegrates?

[SCVDem]

15. 88 and sunny in So. Cal.

Do ya think they want to watch surfing shots in New England?

Didn't think so!

[Paladin]

16. So, how much reporting on blizzards in Boston and New York City do you require? (nt)

[CANDO]

25. To be fair about regional weather events....

I'm in PA, and I couldn't give 2 shits about mudslides or drought in CA or tornadoes in tornado alley. But they tell me about them anyway.

[druidity33]

50. you should care about drought in CA...

that WILL affect the whole country. That's part of the whole "global climate change" picture. How often does the news explain WHY droughts in our agricultural regions is a big deal? And why frequent, unseasonal, abnormally large weather patterns on the east coast also bear on the dialogue we should be having about our planet.

[Fred Sanders]

6. Mass media and cable news executives know exactly what they are doing - manipulating public opinion.

Resistance is futile. Who is going to report on media manipulation when they will none dare even report on Fox lies...hourly lies?

Folks eat the pink slime of American media like they do the pink slime of
American beef. With a side of trust.

Manipulation for profit is fun and highly rewarding, what are the marks going to do about it, not eat pink slime?

Not trust us?

[pintobean]

7. Maybe Williams can get an HBO show.

He can bring the cheese.

[rhett o rick]

55. Brian Williams is a pretty boy news reader. The networks want personalities not substance.

[Hoppy]

8. When I was a social studies teacher, I gave lessons on how to evaluate the importance of "news."

1. Does it affect your health?

2. Does it affect your wealth?

Basketball, Lady Gaga are fun. Its o.k. to hear/read about them and enjoy what you are seeing. But those stories are not important.

They were 9th grade students.

[fadedrose]

12. K & R

[Jack Rabbit]

14. K/R just for being spot on

Once upon a time I said I kept my teevee set for news, sports and Public Broadcasting.

Then my kids outgrew Sesame Street, baseball players stopped playing with intensity, football began looking more violent and vulgar, and news broadcasts seemed like something designed to misinform and disinform and at all costs to not inform.

I killed my teevee set.

[NJCher]

17. well, you can do that

You can also go to truthout, alternet, and Democracy Now for real news.

I still watch the evening news on one of the three what-was-once-major-networks-but-which-now-depend-on-paid-advertising-programs. I think it's part of my comfort zone from childhood.

And sadly, yes it has changed, but we have any of the three listed in my first paragraph for real news.

BTW,thanks, kpete. This was absolutely hilarious--so funny I think I'll watch it again.



Cher

on edit: I'd like to add that the internet is viewed more than television these days, so Maher should maybe think about that.

[Jack Rabbit]

18. I do, thank you

!!

[fbc]

19. 25 minutes all year on climate change

wow

[joetubes]

20. Lies?

FIT RIGHT IN AT fox noise

[calimary]

33. Welcome to DU, joetubes!

Glad you're here! I love the comment someone made on one of these Brian Williams stories (I've read so many by now that I forget where I saw it) that said the solution here - to the network-level upheaval we had this week - is simply for Jon Stewart and Brian Williams to switch jobs!

[Cha]

21. How about BOTH?.. now there's a concept.

[wheniwasincongress]

22. This was excellent

and spot on. Down to the east-coast weather. It's snowing in New York - OH MY GOD IT WILL BE COLD AND SNOWY WHERE WE IMPORTANT PEOPLE ARE!

[Enthusiast]

23. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

Thank you, kpete.

[supercats]

26. That Was Hysterical!!!

Way to go Bill, you nailed it!

[PatrickforO]

27. Sometimes Maher's rants are RIGHT ON,

and this is DEFINITELY one of them.

[Kalidurga]

28. It's what I have been saying for years

only Maher said it funnier.

[spanone]

29. k&r...

[applegrove]

34. Though I did not watch Brian Williams, I am sorry to see him in

trouble. He did what many people do when they retell an adventure for the entertainment of others. But he is a journalist so he is held to higher standards. Still, I am sorry to see the last of the old time anchors probably gone. The nightly news anchor.....reading the news.... a 20th Century phenomena.....GONE!

[JI7]

38. no, if it was just this one instance i could understand, but they are finding many cases of him

saying questionable things . i defended him when this first came out and id on't even like him or consider him as good reporter.

but now more is coming out .

[applegrove]

41. Yeah. It is sad though. I've never been one to exaggerate.

Last edited Sun Feb 15, 2015, 03:58 AM - Edit history (2)

But then I learnt the real 'oral tradition' while on my grandmother's lap. Stories go on and on and take a while. They meander a bit. But they are not embellished. At all. But that is certainly not the kind of story telling the media has produced since the 1930s. It has all been, and increasingly so, about ratings since radio. With the emphasis on entertainment, not imparting knowledge. I guess Brian Williams is a victim of his times. So, upon reflection, I guess I am happy there still is some accountability. And this will stand as a cautionary tale for non fox broadcasters to come.

[JI7]

42. williams is part of the problem , it's sad we talk more about him than real reporters like Bob Simon

who passed away and doesn't get much attention because he wasn't part of their celeb club.

[whereisjustice]

35. "It is like the news brought to you by your biggest stoner friend..." pretty sure my stoner friends

think Williams and NBC and the rest are shit for brains, scaring and manipulating old people for advertising revenue.

[JI7]

36. so fucking true, i especially hate the cute/funny youtube clips

[Octoberfurst]

39. Maher nails it.

Maher has said what I have been saying for years! Our news media sucks! Like he said the networks only have like 22 minutes to tell the news and there is a lot of shit going on all around the world. But what does our precious media focus on? Fluff stories. They have a couple minutes of real news at the beginning and then descend into stories about celebrities, the weather and feel good stories. Who gives a shit? I remember Katie Couric's first broadcast when she became the host of CBS news. Her lead story was "Will Paris Hilton go to jail?". (That was back when Paris was arrested for drunk driving.) I remember saying out loud--"You gotta be kidding me!" That was their lead story! I wanted to throw something at the TV screen. And it has not gotten any better since then. No wonder most Americans are clueless when it comes to what is going on in the world. We have become a nation of idiots & our "news media" has played a major role in it.
If you want real news watch al Jazeera or BBC News.

[rhett o rick]

40. Bill is right on. I don't give a crap about Brian William's lies about his career. He is just

a news toady. He had no integrity to lose.

[blkmusclmachine]

45. ,

,

[fbc]

48. Bill Maher is like the asshole version of Jon Stewart

and I mean that as a compliment.

[DeSwiss]

49. ALL TRUE!

- But he left out the part about THE TERRORISMS. They are contractually required to mention THE TERRORISMS every single day.

[Blue_Tires]

54. And out of the blue Maher pulls some shit like this and TOTALLY REDEEMS HIMSELF

Last edited Sun Feb 15, 2015, 11:37 AM - Edit history (1)

It will be interesting to see if any of the big 3 news directors respond to this...

Of course what goes unmentioned is the public, by not demanding better standards of its media, deserves a fairly large share of the blame for letting things deteriorate to this point...