Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
It has been suggested that Williams might take over the Fake News Desk at CC after Stewart leaves.
My take - The lines separating news, entertainment, commentary, and self-promotion (notable in the case of NBC) have been so blurred for so long that I take little discomfort in all of this. Both individuals are gifted speakers, whatever one may think of their character, attributes and failings.
There was a time when news divisions were viewed as "the crown jewels" of large broadcast corporations. They weren't expected to turn a profit, they were judged on the prestige they brought, the honors they earned and the service they performed. The industry changed. Broadcast corporations became small parts of bigger entities: NBC and RCA were originally divisions of GE (1926-30), then it was the television arm of RCA (1930-86) until it was purchased by General Electric (1986), then merged with Universal Entertainment (2004), then bought by Comcast (2011-13). As "just another business unit" of a conglomerate, it's expected to maximize profits for the corporation's shareholders.
If you're wondering what a profit-maximizing broadcast news operation looks like, I've got just two words for you: Jim Cramer.
(sigh) On the local front, my top-rated NBC affiliate spends part of each morning's broadcast reading viewer posts from the station's Facebook page and showing "viral videos," most of which are over-the-top commercials. It used to be that when I was interviewed on the local news, they sent a journalist and a videographer. Now they send a 25-year-old minimum wage worker who sets up her own mini-cam and asks about what questions she should ask.
When did lying become a "mistake" or mis-speaking (Obama) When my mom asked me if I took the cookies I could have said NO, later She found them in my room..."Well mom I mis-spoke" wouldn't have worked..are people Dumber today? ask Brian Williams....his answer would be....
If "making sh** up" disqualified folks from appearing on TV, the airwaves would be silent. Sadly, I think that most of these folks are delusional: they've repeated their stories so often to such rousing applause from the glassy-eyed believers that they come to be reality for them.
That's actually an attempt on my part to be sympathetic that these are (mostly) decent people trapped in (mostly) dysfunctional systems. The alternative is to condemn the speakers as consciously, maliciously willing to twist the facts and poison the public debate in pursuit of private gain.
I'm sort of with David on this one. I can just see Williams retelling the story, with ever-so-slight embellishments over a period of time, until it had reached a point of fantasy.
'Journalistic incest' appears as a buzzword. Guess who is married to whom/employed by whom, and what (or who) the 'whom' owns. Etc, etc. Won't quote a source as I haven't checked the facts. Just interesting.
Rono, in an earlier thread, made the point that Williams was stealing glory from the GIs who earned it. (And JohnC linked a Maureen Dowd piece to that effect.) I Agree.
It has dawned on me, however, that through frequent celebritary-like appearances on the late-nights (Stewart, Letterman, you name it) where he flogged and embellished the RPG story, Williams was also stealing credibility from the news division at NBC (or what's left of it) in pursuit of personal aggrandizement.
Co-workers will no doubt offer the obligatory display of sympathy and support. Behind the scenes, however, sentiments may be very different.
During the golden age of broadcast news, Cronkite and Huntley/Brinkley would report the news and let the viewer think about it.
Now, the news is reported along with profiling of the perp or the family, and a bunch of experts telling us why that person went astray. There are numerous broadcast shows now where a person can go on and tell the world they were abused as a child, took drugs, or whatever reasonable excuse can be presented in order to try and force sympathy from society.
@JohnChisum My goodness, John, you started the day reading a board post containing "Christine Lagarde" and "prostitute" in the same sentence, leading to breakfast dyspepsia; and now your day closes with Old_Joe calling you an old fogey. You've had a rough 24 hours! Sleep tight. @Old_Joe Whatsamatta U--- couldn't find a softer mallet?
I don't know who could replace Stewart. Louis CK would be amazing but I don't think he'd do it. Jim Gaffigan would be great, but would probably lean towards the goofy too much whereas Stewart managed to find a balance.
And your local papers, no matter how tiny their circulation, are probably (in fact, highly likely) owned by a syndicated "news service" that is a subsidiary of a division nestled within one of these 6 corporations.
As David observed earlier, it seems a bit incongruous to remove somebody simply for making up #*** on TV. Looks like money may be at the bottom of this. A much harder pill for the brass at NBC to swallow.
And your local papers, no matter how tiny their circulation, are probably (in fact, highly likely) owned by a syndicated "news service" that is a subsidiary of a division nestled within one of these 6 corporations.
The article is dated 2012. Since then, Time Warner has spun off Time (listed in the article as a TW property). Prior to the article (2009), Time Warner Cable (TWC) had also been spun off. Though TWC is likely to be acquired ("merged") with Comcast, which I guess moves it from one of the six columns to another. http://ir.timewarner.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=70972&p=irol-corpactions
With respect to newspapers, I suspect that most of the stories carried in the "independent" papers are wire stories from the remaining papers (which run their own wire services), or AP or Bloomberg, etc. To their credit, the small locals do still work at providing neighborhood coverage.
Comments
If you're wondering what a profit-maximizing broadcast news operation looks like, I've got just two words for you: Jim Cramer.
(sigh) On the local front, my top-rated NBC affiliate spends part of each morning's broadcast reading viewer posts from the station's Facebook page and showing "viral videos," most of which are over-the-top commercials. It used to be that when I was interviewed on the local news, they sent a journalist and a videographer. Now they send a 25-year-old minimum wage worker who sets up her own mini-cam and asks about what questions she should ask.
David
There is a hotel in Japan that uses droids for check in/out, cleaning and making beds and other tasks. I'm sure they could report the news.
When my mom asked me if I took the cookies I could have said NO, later She found them in my room..."Well mom I mis-spoke" wouldn't have worked..are people Dumber today? ask Brian Williams....his answer would be....
That's actually an attempt on my part to be sympathetic that these are (mostly) decent people trapped in (mostly) dysfunctional systems. The alternative is to condemn the speakers as consciously, maliciously willing to twist the facts and poison the public debate in pursuit of private gain.
David
Won't quote a source as I haven't checked the facts. Just interesting.
Rono, in an earlier thread, made the point that Williams was stealing glory from the GIs who earned it. (And JohnC linked a Maureen Dowd piece to that effect.) I Agree.
It has dawned on me, however, that through frequent celebritary-like appearances on the late-nights (Stewart, Letterman, you name it) where he flogged and embellished the RPG story, Williams was also stealing credibility from the news division at NBC (or what's left of it) in pursuit of personal aggrandizement.
Co-workers will no doubt offer the obligatory display of sympathy and support. Behind the scenes, however, sentiments may be very different.
Now, the news is reported along with profiling of the perp or the family, and a bunch of experts telling us why that person went astray. There are numerous broadcast shows now where a person can go on and tell the world they were abused as a child, took drugs, or whatever reasonable excuse can be presented in order to try and force sympathy from society.
@Old_Joe
Whatsamatta U--- couldn't find a softer mallet?
http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6#ixzz3Rag7weAt
And your local papers, no matter how tiny their circulation, are probably (in fact, highly likely) owned by a syndicated "news service" that is a subsidiary of a division nestled within one of these 6 corporations.
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/11/trouble_mounts_for_brian_williams_nbc_reportedly_looking_into_his_expense_accounts/
As David observed earlier, it seems a bit incongruous to remove somebody simply for making up #*** on TV.
Looks like money may be at the bottom of this. A much harder pill for the brass at NBC to swallow.
http://ir.timewarner.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=70972&p=irol-corpactions
With respect to newspapers, I suspect that most of the stories carried in the "independent" papers are wire stories from the remaining papers (which run their own wire services), or AP or Bloomberg, etc. To their credit, the small locals do still work at providing neighborhood coverage.