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[h=4]NBC: Brian Williams suspended for six months[/h]An email distributed to NBC staff indicated the embattled journalist would be suspended.
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Brian Williams has made his career reporting and anchoring at NBC Nightly news, but he's also gained attention through appearances on late night talk shows and comedy sketches. VPC
Brian Williams of "NBC Nightly News" reports from Camp Liberty in Baghdad on March 8, 2007(Photo: Jeff Riggins, NBC, via Getty Images)
NBC News said Tuesday it has immediately suspended its chief anchor and managing editor Brian Williams for six months without pay, forgoing the option of firing him for now due to "the special relationship" the embattled newsman has forged with the network.
"As I'm sure you understand, this was a very hard decision," wrote NBC News President Deborah Turness in a memo distributed to staff members late Tuesday. "Certainly there will be those who disagree. But we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action."
USA TODAY
Memo from NBC News President on Williams' suspension
Lester Holt, who was tapped to fill in while Williams sat out, will continue to substitute anchor NBC Nightly News. Williams took himself off the air Sunday after soldiers revealed that his account of being on a Chinook helicopter that went down during the U.S. invasion of Iraq was not true.
"We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work Brian has done and the special relationship he has forged with our viewers over 22 years," Turness said. "Millions of Americans have turned to him every day, and he has been an important and well-respected part of our organization."
Turness said the decision to suspend Williams was made jointly with NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke and Pat Fili, chairman of NBCUniversal News Group. NBCUniversal, which operates NBC News, is a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp.
USA TODAY
'Nightly News' keeps ratings lead amid Williams scandal
"It's basically a slap on the wrist. If you or I had done this, we'd have been fired immediately," said Mark Feldstein, a broadcast journalism professor at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. "He's a franchise with a following, and I think that is a lot more important to corporate executives than mere sentimentality. I think they're trying to preserve the Williams brand that they've invested millions in."
Last Friday, NBC News confirmed it began conducting its investigation of Williams' claims about his work. The probe, led by Richard Esposito in cooperation with NBCUniversal General Counsel Kim Harris, is still ongoing. "This has been a difficult time," Turness wrote. "Because of you, your loyalty, your dedication, NBC News is an organization we can – and should - all be proud of. We will get through this together."
The scandal erupted earlier this month when Williams attended a New York Rangers game with a soldier who helped guard him and other American soldiers while a convoy of military helicopters they were flying on was forced to land on a desert in Iraq in 2003.
Williams said the helicopter he was on had been hit by enemy fire and forced down. Veterans from the convoy challenged Williams' story — which he has repeated in the past — on Facebook. And the anchorman recanted the story on air Wednesday after Stars and Stripes wrote a story about their online exchange and interviewed Williams and the veterans.
Other news reports began emerging after the story, questioning Williams' other statements. Williams has said he saw a body floating in front of his hotel in the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The New Orleans Advocate reported last week that the Quarter was mostly dry.
USA TODAY
Brian Williams' account of '70s N.J. robbery questioned
"While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues," Turness wrote. "This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian's position. As Managing Editor and anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times."
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The newspaper Stars and Stripes released a transcript of its interview with NBC News anchor Brian Williams last week, made before his apology for falsely claiming to be in a helicopter that had been hit by a grenade while in Iraq in 2003. (Feb. 9) AP
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