In columns appearing on Monday, Time TV writer James Poniewozik and New York Times media columnist David Carr both insist NBC anchor Brian Williams has committed a significant media sin.
Poniewozik pierced through the idea that any self-respecting media outlet would expect others to view an internal review to be a satisfying attempt at public relations in a scandal:
Here’s a thought experiment: let’s suppose NBC News were covering a scandal involving a household-name public figure–at the NFL, say, General Motors, the White House–and the organization that figure belonged to said, sorry, it was going to handle the investigation itself. Don’t worry: there would be an “internal review,” they would put really good people on it, and if it turned out there was anything to be concerned about, they’d be sure to let everyone know!
Would that be good enough for NBC News? Would it be good enough for managing editor Brian Williams? I sure hope not.
But it’s exactly the process that NBC News, a journalistic organization, apparently expects to satisfy other news outlets and the public they report to.
Poniewozik didn't want to dismiss the internal NBC reviewers as unprofessional, but you're still investigating the boss.
That shouldn’t be a satisfying answer to any journalistic outlet. And a big part of the problem here is that NBC News isn’t acting like a news organization; it’s acting like a business doing crisis p.r.
...Now, this may well be the best strategy for a business in trouble. Circle the wagons, keep your information tightly held within the company, get your story straight, figure out how bad things are and how you can manage the situation. Limit your exposure.
But NBC News is not just a business. Or, at least, its business depends on journalistic trust, which is not exactly bolstered by a defensive, CYA reaction. If NBC and Williams want to make things better, that starts with opening up–really opening up.
If they simply, honestly believe this situation is no big deal, that Williams already apologized and everyone should move on, then they should make that argument, openly, and good luck doing that.
David Carr grasped the notion that Williams offended more seriously by mangling a war story instead of some pedestrian domestic matter.
The perceptions of the weak, confused apology, and suspending himself for as long as he chooses, are not good for Mr. Williams or his employer. A full-throated, unmodulated apology is the only thing that will satisfy a public who placed their trust in him. And his voluntary step back, however well intended, suggests he is answerable only to himself. Indeed, the investigation at NBC will be led internally, by the head of investigations, who depends on Mr. Williams to make room for his work on the newscast...
Beyond those strategic failures, if you are going to tell a war story that sprints past the truth, it best not be about war. Those of us who worked the Hurricane Katrina coverage rolled our eyes at some of the stories Mr. Williams told of the mayhem there, but it was a dark, confusing place and a lot of bad stuff happened, so who were we to judge? But armed service and its perils are seen as sacred and must not be trifled with. The soldiers who ended up in harm’s way and survived that day are calling him out because their moral code requires it.
Carr doesn't want Williams removed, and concluded we all want an anchor who's a... pretender?
We want our anchors to be both good at reading the news and also pretending to be in the middle of it. That’s why, when the forces of man or Mother Nature whip up chaos, both broadcast and cable news outlets are compelled to ship the whole heaving apparatus to far-flung parts of the globe, with an anchor as the flag bearer.
We want our anchors to be everywhere, to be impossibly famous, globe-trotting, hilarious, down-to-earth, and above all, trustworthy. It’s a job description that no one can match.
As Mark Joyella wrote at TV Newser in introducing Carr’s observations, “Brian Williams can’t slow-jam his way out of the mess he’s in, and he can’t serve up artfully written statements, hoping the power of his delivery – and a knowing smile veering ever so closely toward a smirk – will quiet the storm.”
Joyella also noted that Jon Friedman noted that Williams mocked bloggers, saying “God love them. They are anxious to share with us their choice of a tuna sandwich for lunch.”
Joyella added: "No, Brian, they’re eating you for lunch. But the same modern tools your critics are using to call your integrity into question are available to you as well, if, of course, you have any interest in using them."
