A lot of journalists are dumping on NBC newsman Brian Williams, who has had to apologize for repeatedly telling a story about something that happened to him but really didn't. I know Mr. Williams as a bright, funny talk show guest and before this, I had no opinion of him as a newsman. I'm still not entirely sure I have one now.
As Ken Auletta notes, the story Williams is now retracting was not entirely untrue. Since I think that's about all we can expect from TV news these days, I have trouble getting too excited over this. If I had a history of hating the things he reports or the way he reports them, I might see this as a chance to ramp up the outrage and maybe get him fired or at least castrated a little. But like I said, I have no feelings one way or the other about him as a newsman. I don't think he did anything that a lot of folks in broadcasting don't do except that he got caught.