Intensity in critical news coverage of NBC anchor Brian Williams’ increased Friday with the New York Times and USA Today dedicating front-page stories to the drama.
News broke this week that for several years, Williams had falsely claimed to be aboard a U.S. military aircraft that was brought down by enemy fire in Iraq. Williams apologized for the inaccuracies of his claim, blaming it on “the fog of memory over 12 years.”
“With apology, Williams digs himself deeper,” read the headline on the Times’ front page. The story concluded that “the trustworthiness of one of America’s best-known and most revered TV journalists has been damaged, and that the moral authority of the nightly network news anchor, already diminished in the modern media era, has been dealt another blow.”
USA Today featured two articles about the Williams debacle on its front page, one of which was a column by media critic Rem Rieder expressing doubt that Williams would emerge on the other side of the scandal still seated as anchor of NBC’s nightly newscast. The other was a news article suggesting that Williams’ popularity and household name recognition could actually save his career. “[A]n imminent ouster — given his popularity and financial considerations — seems unlikely,” the article said.
Separately, the New York Post, often scathing in tone, ran an altered photo of Williams on its front page to make him look like a long-nosed Pinocchio.
via Newseumvia Newseum
