Greater minds than mine will be dissecting for quite some time the mess created by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams when he confessed he had lied about his experience in the Iraqi war zone in 2003.

   After spending more than 40 years in newsrooms, I am seldom surprised anymore by the lies people tell. However, I am distressed by the damage to my profession's credibility and reputation that results when another journalist intentionally mixes fact and fiction. Earlier today in my Twitter feed, I urged my colleagues not to take competitive joy in seeing a highly paid and popular television anchor wind up in such a self-inflicted fall from grace.

   Journalists are a target of criticism and derision in a seemingly endless cycle. In popular culture, television drama and movies, reporters are frequently portrayed as a braying mass of rude, unethical and insensitive characters who will stop at nothing to get the story. Surveys studying popularity and respect usually rank our genre near the bottom of the pile, next to used car salesman and garbage collectors.

   We are not perfect in this line of work and I would never argue otherwise. But it pains me to see the ripple effects caused by such embarrassing conduct such as that exhibited by Williams. Actions like his only give people more reason to distrust our intentions and our words. I feel sorry for the thousands of NBC employees whose reputations will suffer indirectly from the acts of one individual. The trust that millions of viewers placed in the NBC nightly news program anchored by Williams has been severely damaged. Williams' lies should embarrass all of us in journalism.

 

 

 

---

---