Brian Williams doesn’t want to anchor the CBS Evening News. Just years ago, in 2015, the notion that Williams would be rebuffing an offer to helm one of the big three nightly news programs would have been unfathomable. But the tide has since turned. CBS News President and Co-Head Neeraj Khemlani recently tried to recruit Williams for the network’s flagship evening news program. Two sources said that Khemlani, who assumed his role less than a year ago and has been working to poach talent, tried at least twice. But it was to no avail.
In a noticeable break from the journalistic demeanor he has projected for nearly three decades at NBC News and MSNBC, the veteran anchor used the final minutes of his tenure on MSNBC’s 11th Hour to warn viewers of the frailty of American democracy and urged them to keep it safe — if they could.
MSNBC diehards tune in partially because they know what they can expect on most evenings: Rachel Maddow will do her 22 minutes of connecting-the-dots news-cycle analysis at 9 p.m., and Brian Williams will wrap up the day with a vast array of knowledgeable experts at 11. Starting next year, however, fans — and even the executives who run the place — can’t be sure what they’re going to get.
Williams said in a note to colleagues Tuesday that “following much reflection,” he had decided to exit when his contract ends in December. “This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another,” Williams wrote. “There are many things I want to do, and I’ll pop up again somewhere.”
How TV and radio journalists handle it when history is suddenly thrust upon them is the subject of a new podcast based on Joe Garner’s 1998 book, We Interrupt This Broadcast. The 12-episode series, which MSNBC’s Brian Williams narrates, becomes available on July 20, and new seasons are already in the works.
Exclusives
Brian Williams is leading a top-rated nightly newscast again — on MSNBC, where he seems to have rebounded after a fall from grace.
Brian Williams is facing online criticism for waxing poetic about what he called “beautiful pictures” of U.S. missiles launching during an attack on a Syrian air base.
NEW YORK (AP) — Coming out of a commercial break shortly before 11:20 a.m., Brian Williams had slipped into the anchor chair on MSNBC Tuesday as President Barack Obama met […]
MSNBC confirmed several employees have had to move due to the construction of the breaking news hub, and that some would be relocated permanently. According to sources with MSNBC, entire teams had to change location to accommodate the renovations, with reporters and producers from different divisions mingling amid the construction.
Former CBS News star Dan Rather, the longest holder of the Evening News chair, has a theory about what happened to Brian Williams at NBC. “When things started coming apart, he didn’t hire an expert to help him,” Rather said Saturday night. “He relied on their PR people. He trusted them. That was his mistake. They threw him under the bus.”
MSNBC had been looking toward coverage of the pope’s visit as the place to start him in his new job of covering breaking news stories during the cable news network ‘s daylight hours.
It’s been six months since Williams was suspended without pay by NBC News for telling an exaggerated story about a helicopter mission during the Iraq War. The network confirmed today that the suspension is over and Williams will assume his new role as a breaking news anchor at MSNBC in mid-September.
NBC anchor Brian Williams was suspended on Feb. 10 after his story about flying in a helicopter hit by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003 was shown to be false, triggering an investigation into other incidents of self-aggrandizement in talking about his reporting. He lost his job as NBC’s “Nightly News” anchor and was named a breaking news anchor at the cable news outlet. MSNBC hasn’t announced a start date for Williams, but it’s expected to be in time for the network’s coverage of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States, scheduled for Sept. 22-27.
NBC’s Brian Williams, in his first interview since being suspended in February, said “ego” drove him to embellish stories about his reporting experiences. “I said things that weren’t true,” he told his colleague Matt Lauer Friday morning in a taped interview on NBC’s Today show.
Step No. 1 is Friday, when Brian Williams faces old colleague Matt Lauer for an interview that will be aired on the Today show and Nightly News. It will be Williams’ first time speaking publicly since being suspended in February for telling tales about his reporting experiences.
Williams was suspended in February for falsely claiming he had been in a helicopter hit by enemy fire during the Iraq War. NBC launched an internal investigation that found Williams “made a number of inaccurate statements about his own role and experiences covering events in the field.” “Brian now has the chance to earn back everyone’s trust,” said Andrew Lack, chairman of NBC News and MSNBC.
Tip For Williams Watchers: Take A Breath
Assuming everything reported about Brian Williams’ transgressions are true, it’s still important to keep this in perspective. While those grievous errors wouldn’t allow him to return to the anchor seat, it shouldn’t keep him from pursuing his life’s work — assuming he returns humbled and squares with his audience.
NBC and Williams have come to a tentative agreement that will keep Williams at the network after his six-month suspension ends in August. The decision, described by people with knowledge of the plan, ends months of speculation that Williams could leave NBC altogether. Williams will not be returning to the NBC Nightly News anchor chair. Instead, he will have a new role at MSNBC. His fill-in Lester Holt will become NBC Nightly News’ permanent anchor
It’s been four months now since NBC News anchorman Brian Williams was called out for exaggerating the dangers of his Iraq war reporting experiences, causing him to be temporarily suspended while the network investigated other possible embellishments the newsman might have made over the years. The burning question now becomes if, as multiple media reports indicate, NBC really does want to keep Williams at the network in some other capacity, what on earth should they do with him?
How Not To Become Brian Williams
How did a man so fastidious screw up so magnificently? We give thanks for Brian Williams’ fall — not because we have anything against the broadcaster, but because from his disgrace can be distilled a medicine that, when taken as directed, will prevent others from a place in perdition.
NBC suspended Brian Williams for six months on Feb. 10 after he admitted to falsely claiming that he had been in a helicopter hit by enemy fire during the Iraq War, when in fact his helicopter had not been hit. The network subsequently ordered an internal investigation into other instances where Williams allegedly embellished his experiences, most often in talk show appearances. NBC has also not said whether it will make public the details of its investigation into Williams’ conduct once a decision is made about the anchor’s future.
Brian Williams may lose his seat as anchor of the NBC Nightly News, but executives are looking for a way to keep him at the network in a new role. Weeks of complex negotiations between Williams and NBC are not yet complete, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — NBC’s Brian Williams has withdrawn from hosting a broadcast honoring those who support U.S. veterans and military families, and first lady Michelle Obama is stepping in to […]
In his first public comments about the saga, NBC News chief Andy Lack acknowledged the damage done to the network by the Brian Williams scandal. A resolution will come “soon.”
He should be center stage at Monday’s NBC Upfront. Instead, he’s still off-screen, mired in scandal. He wants to reoccupy his evening news anchor chair ASAP.
Williams: Lots Of Questions, Some Answers
Vern Gay: “Brian Williams, the once and possibly still future anchor of Nightly News, is now three months into his six-month suspension. And that, dear reader, is the only fact we can verify at this moment. In an effort to clear the air …, let’s ask the questions, and make attempts at some answers. What you are about to read is based on some reporting, and my own hunches. Take my word on this — the people I’ve spoken to do know what they’re talking about; my ‘hunches’ may be the most suspect part of this exercise (so caveat emptor).”
Talks between the exiled anchor and NBCUniversal have recently become tense — with the 55-year-old newsman saying he will not have his NBC Nightly News job taken away without a battle. “Brian is saying he’s not going down without a fight and [is] threatening to make it really ugly — worse than Ann Curry,” a source close to NBC says.
Many in the media business believe that the future looks bleak for suspended “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams. Speculation that Williams is a goner heated up last weekend after several reports based on unnamed sources said NBC’s review found numerous situations in which the anchor publicly embellished statements about his reporting. But NBC News Chairman Andy Lack still hasn’t given up on the idea of bringing Williams back.
