Brian Williams Assignment

In his March 2013 appearance on the David Letterman Show, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams renewed his claim that he had been in a helicopter that was shot down over Iraq in 2003. He has reported this story several times since 2003, and it has only recently been brought to light that his story is a lie and he has never been shot down.

Since this lie was uncovered, Williams has put out a formal apology and admitted his mistake, attributing it to "the fog of memory".

Williams has also announced that he is taking a break for a few days from anchoring on Nightly News; however, he plans to be back soon to "continue [his] lifelong effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in [NBC Nightly News]".

Journalists and others in news media face the daunting task of earning the trust of their readers and viewers. Williams has been a prominent face of the Nightly News for years, but this one mistake may completely discredit him.

While he has years of trust and credibility behind him, Williams and NBC must face the fact that he will now always be associated with this scandal. Williams has not only hurt his own reputation, but that of NBC as well. While I am surprised at his behavior, I am even more disappointed in the fact that NBC did not catch this mistake for themselves, or, if they did, did not deal with the issue.

I am a firm believer in second chances, but unfortunately I think it is in NBC's best interest to let Williams go. He has already damaged the reputation of the broadcaster, and to continue to be the fact of NBC would most likely hurt them even more.

That being said, I think Williams has handled the situation in a proper manner. He has admitted the mistake and apologized. However, because he has been standing on his lie for years and it was not just a years-after-the-incident slip, this circumstance is not one that can be covered by an apology.

As this situation relates to journalism, it reiterates the fact that being accurate and true is the most important job of a reporter. It also shows that you must check for accuracy in media and not believe everything that is said based solely on the reputation of the person speaking.

Through his actions, Brian Williams has violated two umbrella aspects of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. The first rule of journalism is to seek truth and report it; Williams not only failed to seek truth, he made up his own lie. The second is to minimize harm; this incident blatantly disrespects the brave veterans who actually were shot down in that plane and also hurts the reputation of the company he works for.

Instead of building his reputation with a lie, Williams has only undone his years of work to gain credibility. Hopefully NBC will make the right decision and correct their own mistake of failing to check for accuracy in the claims of the face of Nightly News.