Amph NBC: Lester Holt promoted; Brian Williams demoted

Being caught in a lie causes history changing of the guard.

 

What happened? Can't access the story.

 

A few months ago, it came out that Brian Williams lied about some experiences he had while reporting in Iraq several years ago. He was taken off the air and Lester Holt filed in in the interim on Nightly News, during which it was found that Williams may have embellished several more stories, including one in Katrina. Yesterday, NBC announced that Williams would be used on the network's cable channel MSNBC for Breaking News and the like and Holt would be the permanent anchor of Nightly News, becoming the first solo African American to hold that position on any of the Big Three broadcast networks.

 

Surprised Brian Williams is still with the network.

 

Thank you for explaining.

 

Your welcome.

 

It'll be interesting, that's for sure.

 

i'm glad for Lester Holt, i've always like him.

 

Stephan's here in Chicago. Lester Holt was a CBS news anchor in Chicago for more than a decade, one of Chicago's best-loved and most respected anchors, was also famous locally for playing a Chicago news anchor in Harrison Ford's The Fugitive.

 

I always like watching him.

 

So he got caught in all his lies but because he is such a skilled broadcaster he will be forgiven and get work. Rachel Maddow said she thought it was awesome. That he admitted it all and wants to be redeemed. Ok. I can buy that. But the rest of me says get rid of the bum as he will be nothing but another tool for the right wing to say the left employs liars.

 

Yeah, on the one hand, there's a part of me that says he should be fired for the lies, on the other... Shouldn't one get a get a second chance to redeem himself in a circumstance like this? To at least try and pickup the pieces of his career and, maybe not ever be in the position he was in again, but at least try and make a go at getting back some of the credibility he lost in this? I think this is at least somewhat of a fair compromise between firing him outright and acting like nothing ever happened in this case.

(And for all of your point about the right - wing, I'd be willing to bet FOX news would make a run at him if NBC had fired him)

 

When I heard NBC would keep Williams around, I thought about, of all things, an episode of "The Jetsons". At one point, Cogswell thinks he's ruined, and Spacely tells him, "Don't worry, Cogswell. There will always be a place for you at Spacely Sprockets, as a night watchman!"

 

I remember that episode.

 

Brian Williams suspension ends; be back on MSNBC by Mid - September.

 

Upping this to kind of put a pin on the whole thread.

 

Lingering injuries from the copter crash?

 

During the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, my best friend was studying at a university in Cairo. She wound up getting evacuated after a while by the US military (basically at the point where her college ran out of food outside of some chips in the vending machines).

When she evacuated through Turkey, Lester Holt was there. He asked her for an interview but she didn't know who he was until talking with her mom later.

That's my Lester Holt story.

I have no stories about Brian Williams, because he has enough stories himself.

 

Well he's clearly not retiring. But I couldn't see him anywhere else but on one of the big networks. CNN? CBS? ABC? ...Fox News?

 

how will he go down in history

 

Williams fashioned himself as Cronkite's heir, but ended up a fruad.

 

@Juliet316 Yes he did. It also seems like that was the best thing that ever happen to him. Seems like now he is much more comfortable then he was at an anchor desk.

@Darth_Accipiter I would not be surprised if one of the streaming services pick Williams up as they got into the "news business". Jon Stewart is on Apple TV so it would not be shocking to see news personalities following suit. Stewart's new show is great btw as honestly his interviews so far have been outstanding.

 

I think anybody who has a job on a cable channel is trying to get out.

That ship has been sinking, and it is probably on fire as it sinks.