On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 6:52 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> I haven't read the "long article," but does it actually include named > sources, or just pedantic complaints from anonymous nobodys? > > On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Gabriel Sherman wrote a long article >> <http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/03/nbc-news-brian-williams-deborah-turness.html> >> (link) about the chaos going on at NBC News even before the latest mess >> with Brian Williams. I will confess to not yet reading the article but I >> did see a link to it with this excerpt: >> >> *The Nightly News crisis exposed deep-rooted anger among many NBC >> journalists, who felt frustrated that Williams had been allowed to gain so >> much power. In recent years, the anchor had churned through executive >> producers who challenged him. (SNIP) Since the scandal has proved to be >> something of a release valve for resentment that had been building toward >> Williams, it could make the climate at NBC News inhospitable to his >> possible return. “Very, very few people like him,” one senior journalist >> told me. “The phrase you hear constantly: What goes around comes around.”* >> > I have read it (it is pretty long, but not that much of a commitment). My comment only seems as long as the article, so for those who will not read even this, let me once again give props to those in our midst (please identify yourself, I am thinking Joe and Dave) who well before the current scandal noted that Williams was compromising his journalistic credentials by crossing over the line from news man to late night raconteur and entertainer, which I think is the main bit of substance confirmed in this story. It is based on anonymous sources (some of them not too hard to figure out), and is a bit of a bitch list. And it also seems to recycle much of the same stuff we heard when Horowitz was fired after rumors he was shaking things up at Today. But it is interesting, and most importantly I think it is not really about the Williams scandal - or rather, it attempts to put the Williams scandal into the larger context, which is that NBC News has been without stable leadership since the Comcast takeover and the exit of Jeff Zucker in 2011- who is an asshole, but also was clearly and competently in charge. Since then they have had crises at Today, Meet the Press and Nightly News. While each of those situations were different, a common thread seems to be an inability to find the sweet spot between trusting the "talent" to have its head, and reigning them in with a sure hand when necessary - which requires a leader that the talent respects and trusts. While not explicitly stated, I get the sense that a lot of the resentment of Williams comes from his filling the leadership vacuum, and using his managing editor authority unchecked really by anyone above him. As I gather from Kevin's comments is he, I am also suspicious of those who bitch anonymously to the press after someone has taken a public hit. I have more respect who deal with their shit person to person, looking their adversary in the eye, than those who wait until they are down and then pounce. It seems to me that one of the important leads in this story has gotten buried in the coverage I have seen of it - they cite multiple examples of Williams, apparently seriously, contemplating getting out of news and into entertainment full time. They quote him as saying "I love late night", and say he seriously put himself forward as a replacement for Dave on Late Show. Also that he never felt respected by Brokow, or the college boys at NBC News, and that he said to Todd when he took over MTP “At least your ghost is dead. Mine is still walking the building.” I also gather that the leaders at NBC are even now still not sure what to do about Williams. Part of his suspension deal is a gag order, which is why we have not heard from him (he apparently is chomping at the bit to get his side out, and insists the Katrina story was accurate). As we speculated here, the bosses have uncovered some reason to be skeptical of some of Williams other reports, but it is still vague and unclear, and so far not enough to clearly either fire him or stand behind him. Meanwhile Holt has held on to Williams' ratings, making it even more difficult to just take Williams back. Good news for Williams is the new (old) guy in charge at NBC News, Lack, is Williams' original champion, which suggests they are going to give him every chance to come back. I still think that they need to finish up their in-house investigation, sooner rather than later (sooner than the original 6 months) and then either say they have found enough to lose confidence in Williams as a competent and ethical journalist, or say that he was sloppy, are now satisfied he has dedicated himself even more to reliable reporting, and that nobody will be more sure that what he reports is accurate that Brian Williams, so he is their guy and they are bringing him back 2 months early. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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