Watch how Brian Williams' accounts of his time in Iraq have changed since 2003

[Permalink]

So, when does he start working at Fox?

6 Likes

Yeah like Fox holds the monopoly on BS, fabrication, and one sided story telling.

Though I do have to wonder if Brian started to intentionally tell tall tales, or if he is a victim of the fact that our memories are plastic. They can warp and change over the years. My sister is an extreme example of this. The she she remembers falls under two categories: shit people who were supposed to be there have no recollection of - and shit that everyone else who was there remembers differently.

IIRC this subject was talked about in the book “You are not so smart” and had many examples of how people can get false memories in one way or another, and another reason why eye witness testimony isn’t 100% reliable.

7 Likes

Though I do have to wonder if Brian started to intentionally tell tall tales, or if he is a victim of the fact that our memories are plastic. They can warp and change over the years.

This seems like a classic tale of the memory warping. He reports it accurately more than a decade ago, and then over time and retelling gradually conflates the details of his helicopter being forced to land with the helicopter that was hit.

OTOH, even if he did knowingly falsify details, that’s simply what talking heads and others in the media do: My Ironic Defense of Brian Williams | HuffPost Latest News

In other news, there are still people on tv reading the news.

1 Like

But unlike legitimate news organizations, no one at Fox has ever had their career threatened because they lacked integrity.

3 Likes

I always like Brian Williams, too bad we shouldn’t be seeing him on TV anytime soon.

For some reason the big 3 nightly news is held to a bigger standard than the cable shows. But all the cable shows are shit IMHO, and the nightly new isn’t far behind…

And don’t you dare call them what they are, “news readers” (like people do in other countries).

1 Like

They say that the past is a foreign country. It appears that we are at war with it and, while too primitive to be categorized as MANPADS in the traditional sense, their anti aircraft mechanisms are still a threat.

I don’t know, sounds to me like a pretty clear case of good old fashioned lying… Putting yourself on the helicopter that was an hour ahead of his is a pretty big stretch.

And honestly, arguing that all news channels bend the truth equally is letting Fox News off the hook for their outright propaganda far too easily.

1 Like

Of course. If I told a story today about an event that took place more than 10 years ago, you’d be right to be suspicious if I set the time as an hour earlier or later than the event actually occurred…

2 Likes

Well, if the difference between the two times was being in the middle of combat and shot by a missile, or completely missing the combat, then yes, I’d find it very suspicious if you conflated the two times, especially if you had used the lie to self-aggrandize to the extent that he has.

2 Likes

I’m coming up on ten years since a tour in Iraq. Although I didn’t see much combat, when the stories comes up I make sure to tell them with as much gusto and fear I can muster. Some people just get carried away.

1 Like

Oh he would never fit in at Fox. That was a pretty genuine apology there, at the end. A Fox reporter would double down and demand to know when the veterans had gone over to the enemy.

4 Likes

It depends, though, right? Have you retold the story regularly in those years?

Any relation to the other post about the false memories study? Did other reports of the incident, and others retelling, alter Brian Williams’ memoryh? http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/02/08/planting-false-memories-fairly-easy-psychologists-find.html

Well, fuck him, he works for network news…
HOWEVER, Jon Stewart as usual gets it right when he skewers him then reminds us that all the networks with their admonishments can also fuck right the hell off because they either flat our lied about the Iraq war or spent the whole time sucking W’s dong.

2 Likes

Shocking. Brian Williams is fallible. How long before he is outed as human?

2 Likes

THE BOSS: Brian? Next time you tell that story about the helicopters put your self in the lead chopper and make it exciting. Okay?

BRIAN: But, I am a journalist and we have . . .

THE BOSS: Journalist? Right, I’ll let you know what and when and you repeat it, right?

BRIAN: I’m really not a very good liar.

THE BOSS: Don’t worry. You will get used to it. We’ll have your back if it ever comes out, of course.

BRIAN: Of course.

1 Like