The Brian Williams Debacle

[stamperben]

What's that got to do with the OP?

She asked the question:

Should he be fired? How would this same story be viewed if the person involved was say, Sean Hannity of Fox News?

 

[GarfieldJL]

How so?

If you think about it, Sean Hannity is actually more credible than Brian Williams because everyone expects Sean to give his own interpretation on things and give his own opinion on issues.

Brian Williams is supposed to give the facts, and he got caught lieing to the public.

Btw, if Sean Hannity pulled a stunt like this, he'd probably get fired from Fox News.

 

[stamperben]

If you think about it, Sean Hannity is actually more credible than Brian Williams because everyone expects Sean to give his own interpretation on things and give his own opinion on issues.

Brian Williams is supposed to give the facts, and he got caught lieing to the public.

Btw, if Sean Hannity pulled a stunt like this, he'd probably get fired from Fox News.

You go ahead and think about it.

Post #5. He didn't get fired. 10 times.

 

[iluvatar5150]

If you think about it, Sean Hannity is actually more credible than Brian Williams because everyone expects Sean to give his own interpretation on things and give his own opinion on issues.

Brian Williams is supposed to give the facts, and he got caught lieing to the public.

Btw, if Sean Hannity pulled a stunt like this, he'd probably get fired from Fox News.

That Sean Hannity gets paid to be a dishonest blowhard does not mean that he's more credible than Brian Williams. To Williams' credit, when he was confronted with the falsehood, he took back what he said and admitted the error (I'm not taking a position on whether or not his misstatement was deliberate or an honest mistake). How often does Hannity issue corrections when his errors are pointed out?

 

[GarfieldJL]

You go ahead and think about it.

Post #5. He didn't get fired. 10 times.

If mediamatters is your star witness, your case is in serious trouble...

 

[NightHawkeye]

You go ahead and think about it.

Post #5. He didn't get fired. 10 times.

Horse hockey.

Media Matters is falsely attempting to equate poor or sloppy journalism with the blatant LIE Brian Williams fabricated for his own experience.

Feel free to try to equate any of the ten though: 10 Examples Of Sean Hannity Saying Things That Aren't True | Media Matters

10. Hannity Hyped RNC's Doctored Audio Of Supreme Court Arguments.
9. Hannity Distorted CBO Data To Attack Obama.
8. Hannity Falsely Claimed A White House Adviser "Advocated Compulsory Abortion."
7. Hannity Falsely Claimed Obama Called The Death Of Four Americans "Just A Bump In The Road."
6. Hannity Spread False Report That Egypt Was Considering Necrophilia Bill.
5. Hannity's Special On "Liberal Bias" Featured Wildly Distorted And Out-Of-Context Quotes.
4. Hannity Cast Doubt On Scientific Consensus About Climate Change.
3. Hannity Fueled Myth That Obama Is A Muslim.
2. Hannity Fed The Birther Movement.
1. Hannity Ignored Overwhelming Evidence To Repeatedly Claim Obama's Policies Have Not Helped Improve The Economy.​

 

[GarfieldJL]

Horse hockey.

Media Matters is falsely attempting to equate poor or sloppy journalism with the blatant LIE Brian Williams fabricated for his own experience.

Feel free to try to equate any of the ten though: 10 Examples Of Sean Hannity Saying Things That Aren't True | Media Matters

10. Hannity Hyped RNC's Doctored Audio Of Supreme Court Arguments.
​

9. Hannity Distorted CBO Data To Attack Obama.
8. Hannity Falsely Claimed A White House Adviser "Advocated Compulsory Abortion."
7. Hannity Falsely Claimed Obama Called The Death Of Four Americans "Just A Bump In The Road."
6. Hannity Spread False Report That Egypt Was Considering Necrophilia Bill.
5. Hannity's Special On "Liberal Bias" Featured Wildly Distorted And Out-Of-Context Quotes.
4. Hannity Cast Doubt On Scientific Consensus About Climate Change.
3. Hannity Fueled Myth That Obama Is A Muslim.
2. Hannity Fed The Birther Movement.
1. Hannity Ignored Overwhelming Evidence To Repeatedly Claim Obama's Policies Have Not Helped Improve The Economy.
​

It should be pointed out that even without providing sources Hannity was completely justified on casting doubt on Climate Change.

Science is not determined by consensus, in science something either exists or it doesn't exist. Nobody is arguing that climate doesn't change, what is being argued over is how much of an effect does man have on the climate.

Those "scientists" acting as though this is settled are not behaving as scientists, and as scientists know very well correlation does not equal causation.

 

[MachZer0]

Apparently, he's not the only one ...

Sharyl Attkisson: Brian Williams Not Alone; Hillary Clinton Lied About Being Shot At In Bosnia « CBS Philly

The trip was one in which the two women were with the First Daughter, Sinbad, and among others Sheryl Crow, and was one that Hillary had called a “work trip” and Attkisson remembers as “a lovely thing.”​

I remember Reagan discussing how it isn't that some liberals are wrong about things, it's that they know so many things that aren't true. Now it appears we have liberals remembering things that never happened

 

[MachZer0]

That Sean Hannity gets paid to be a dishonest blowhard does not mean that he's more credible than Brian Williams. To Williams' credit, when he was confronted with the falsehood, he took back what he said and admitted the error (I'm not taking a position on whether or not his misstatement was deliberate or an honest mistake). How often does Hannity issue corrections when his errors are pointed out?

It wasn't an error, it was a lie. Unless one is insane, one cannot possibly remember being shot down in a helicopter if the event never occurred.

 

[NightHawkeye]

It wasn't an error, it was a lie. Unless one is insane, one cannot possibly remember being shot down in a helicopter if the event never occurred.

One might suspect that the boundary between fact and fiction has been so loose at NBC for years that Brian Williams simply had no moral compass left ... and felt unconstrained by reality.

 

[MachZer0]

One might suspect that the boundary between fact and fiction has been so loose at NBC for years that Brian Williams simply had no moral compass left ... and felt unconstrained by reality.

It's the old Saul Alinsky "the ends justify the means" brand of politics

 

[bhsmte]

Not a good thing for a network news anchor. Kinda ruins the credibility.

 

[DaisyDay]

Science is not determined by consensus, in science something either exists or it doesn't exist.

It sort of is. One of the hallmarks of science is repeatability. One study publishes results. Others either get the same results or different results. If 97% of the scientists repeat the experiment and get the same result, that is consensus and the result is likely true.

 

[GarfieldJL]

It sort of is. One of the hallmarks of science is repeatability. One study publishes results. Others either get the same results or different results. If 97% of the scientists repeat the experiment and get the same result, that is consensus and the result is likely true.

It was once scientific consensus that the Earth was flat... Science is not a democracy, it's science...

Man caused climate change is not "settled science," you can't call a vote and declare something settled.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Brian Williams admits that his story of coming under fire while in Iraq was false - The Washington Post

Yes, you've all likely heard of the story by now. It's totally despicable and clearly transparent what his motives were. There was no "misremembering". It's obvious he has no credibility at this point since he's willing to lie about something like this.

Should he be fired? How would this same story be viewed if the person involved was say, Sean Hannity of Fox News?

Didn't Hilary Clinton make a similar claim?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/clintons_iraq_speech_at_gwu.html

 

[iluvatar5150]

It's interesting to see how certain folks are suddenly so concerned with accuracy in media.

 

[bhsmte]

It's interesting to see how certain folks are suddenly so concerned with accuracy in media.

This is a bit different. This is telling a personal story that was a lie, not reporting other news.

 

[iluvatar5150]

This is a bit different. This is telling a personal story that was a lie, not reporting other news.

You're right - this is a bit different. Lying about a personal story is LESS important than presenting false, politically-motivated spin about legislation or policy that affects millions of people. I have no opinion of Brian Williams one way or another and have no sympathy for him getting caught in this or whatever consequences may befall him because of it. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I've watched his news program; I think the most recent thing of his that I saw was the video that Jimmy Fallon did of him singing that Sugar Hill Gang song. But at the end of the day, this story/lie/error doesn't really matter beyond how it affects what people think of him personally.

OTOH, lying about policy has real effects on people. Seeing certain individuals express outrage at Brian Williams while happily gobbling up the most distorted, biased, and easily-refutable stories the rest of the time merely because they align with the conservative agenda speaks to how much they care about "truth" vs how much they care about scoring points against someone who represents an institution they don't like.

 

[MachZer0]

You're right - this is a bit different. Lying about a personal story is LESS important than presenting false, politically-motivated spin about legislation or policy that affects millions of people. I have no opinion of Brian Williams one way or another and have no sympathy for him getting caught in this or whatever consequences may befall him because of it. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I've watched his news program; I think the most recent thing of his that I saw was the video that Jimmy Fallon did of him singing that Sugar Hill Gang song. But at the end of the day, this story/lie/error doesn't really matter beyond how it affects what people think of him personally.

OTOH, lying about policy has real effects on people. Seeing certain individuals express outrage at Brian Williams while happily gobbling up the most distorted, biased, and easily-refutable stories the rest of the time merely because they align with the conservative agenda speaks to how much they care about "truth" vs how much they care about scoring points against someone who represents an institution they don't like.

"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan, period. End of story" Yup, lying about policy has real effects on people

 

[wing2000]

I don't watch Williams or any of the other TV News personalities. Obviously, his fabrication will be damaging to his creditability and NBC News.....just as we have seen with other news anchors who get called on the carpet.

As for Fox News, I think we all know how they would have played the story...from the very beginning....