I’m a Journalist, You Can Trust Me…
Posted by MichaelGroff on February 6, 2015 | Filed under Podcasts, Uncategorized
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (66.5MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams did just about everything aside from including ninjas in his tall-tale surrounding events that took place a decade ago. The controversy started a little over a week ago when Williams made an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.
During the interview with the late night host Williams recounted a story from his days as an embedded reporter in Iraq and included a fairly tense tale about his helicopter taking heavy fire from insurgents on the ground. Williams goes on to say that the helicopter was forced to land and then was grounded further by a lengthy sandstorm. Unfortunately for the NBC “journalist”, accounts from soldiers that were on Williams’ helicopter varied widely from this particular story. It seems that the popular sentiment among others that were present at the time was that Williams helicopter was more than an hour away from the fire-fight that took place and the only reason that the chopper landed in the first place was because of the onset of an intense sandstorm.
So, the question one has to ponder now: Is Brian Williams full of crap? When examining such a complex, multi-layered question such as the above one should begin by analyzing the simplest factor; who has more to gain from each version of the story? Version 1: Brian Williams could tell a pseudo-interesting anecdote about how he was aboard a helicopter as an embedded reporter in Iraq. They were carrying some parts for a bridge to be constructed/repaired in the northern territory but had to land due to an intense sandstorm. Version 2: Williams’ helicopter takes heavy RPG fire and sustains some damage with warning lights and sirens blaring at the pilot who makes a daring landing while returning a blaze of gunfire… Of course this version has more flare, but either would be interesting enough for most of us to tell at a dinner party or in front of a national audience such as that of David Letterman.
In the era of the internet, social media and easily tracked down references, why would someone lie about such details that could easily be discredited? Perhaps Brian Williams is a pathological liar. But then, why not just go full-tilt on such a story and include pirates, ninjas, aliens and sprinkle in some reference to the Starship Enterprise or Red Dragons?
Protip Brian: If you’re going to tell a lie, you might as well make it completely unbelievable so that you seem insane as opposed to just another person that falls from grace because their otherwise boring life is just not quite interesting enough.
Also on this Episode…
– North Korea promises to reap “final doom” upon the United States.
– Superbowl XLIX in the books: Was it a case of Patriots winning or Seattle blowing it? Also, the most odd commercial of any Superbowl leaves me wondering if ad agencies even think before constructing their multi-million dollar campaign.
– Mandatory vaccinations? Some say yes, some say no… Rand Paul says that vaccinations just give you autism, diseases or some other type of nonsense that he just pulled out of his ass.
– 2012 regional teacher of the year gives one of her former students an F+ for over four years… I think you know what happens next.
– Detroit provides us with yet another unusual way to murder one of your friends and no it’s not by forcing them to watch an entire Pistons game.
May 23, 2015 at 3:29 pm
<3 :)