by Kenzie Kesselring

Throughout the past month, NBC’s Nightly News anchor Brian Williams has been in the spotlight, but not for the usual reason.

Brian Williams has been a journalist for NBC since 1993 and he has served as NBC’s Nightly News anchor and managing editor for 10 years. He is a journalist who was adored by many Nightly News viewers until the recent scandal broke out.

The story that got Williams into hot water happened in 2003 when he was covering conflicts in the Middle East. He told David Letterman in 2013— 10 years after the initial event—that he was traveling in an aircraft that was struck by enemy fire.

Soldiers who were with Williams revealed that was not the case. It was the soldiers’ aircraft that was struck by enemy fire and Williams was in a different plane that was not stuck, just following close behind.
This seemingly small mix up in detail turned out to be detrimental to Williams’s career.

With such a long-standing career as a journalist, it should be embedded in Williams’s head that embellishing the truth is not okay for any professional to do, let alone a journalist. The cardinal rule of journalism is to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The offense Williams committed isn’t the worst thing anyone can do, but it has damaged his career. The leave of absence he has been required to take is one of the best things NBC could have done.
However, after the six months, Williams should be allowed to come back but not as the main anchor for the Nightly News.

Williams’s career shouldn’t be doomed forever because of this one mistake, but it shouldn’t be given the prestige it had before. While Williams is still a great journalist, the American people will never trust him like they did before.

People already have a difficult time placing their full trust in the media and the Brian Williams scandal is only making this trust crumble faster.

It is truly disheartening as a journalist that not all reporters realize the importance of the truth, but one mishap shouldn’t destroy the American people’s trust in the media and journalism.

Punishment