Brian Williams and the State of American Media

UPDATED: February 17, 2015, at 10:06 p.m.

With the unfolding of the Brian Williams scandal this past week, Americans witnessed the downfall of one of the country’s preeminent journalists. Williams, the chief anchor and managing editor for NBC's "Nightly News," was suspended from air for six months after revealing that he had fabricated a story about being aboard a helicopter during the 2003 Iraq War that was shot down by enemy RPG fire over Iraq. Williams’s actions are a disturbing transgression of journalistic standards. But even more unsettling is how they reflect on the state of the media, and on how most Americans today get their news.

With his good looks and smooth voice, Williams rose to the top of the journalism world. As host of NBC's “Nightly News,” he averaged 10 million viewers per night. He was the 23rd most-trusted person in America according to research firm The Market Arm (a rank that dropped to 835th following the scandal).

But this fame appears to have had a price. The goal of journalism is to communicate information accurately, and journalists should hold this principle as sacrosanct. But in “misremember[ing]” the helicopter incident and now perhaps in his coverage of Hurricane Katrina, Williams abandoned his journalistic responsibilities. He put himself and his celebrity above the principles of his job, which detracted from his ability to convey accurate facts to the public.

Williams’s fall from grace is certainly lamentable. But this is more than an isolated incident; Williams’s actions should serve as a wake-up call to the current state of the American media and to the mindset of those who consume it. In an age when 87 percent of Americans receive at least some of their news from television, and in which TV is more cited as a news source than any other medium, anchors and pundits are increasingly glorified as celebrities rather than as journalists.

Television news is being ever more sensationalized, while an emphasis on keeping viewers entertained is leaving them less and less informed. This has serious implications for our civic life. It is worth noting those with Williams’s job in the United Kingdom are called “news readers.” They are tasked with simply reading the day’s events, without writing or producing stories and without the attached celebrity.

Williams’s failure to uphold his journalistic integrity is a sign that news outlets need to return to the basic principles of journalism. Aspiring and rising journalists should pursue the field because of a passion for finding and conveying information, not because they hope to become the center of attention. And news organizations should hold to their obligation of informing, not entertaining, their audiences. Brian Williams was unable to maintain this principle, and he is now facing the consequences. His actions are symptomatic of wider problems in the media, and should serve as a warning to the American TV news establishment.

This editorial has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: February 17, 2015

An earlier version of this editorial incorrectly identified the war at the center of the Brian Williams controversy. In fact, Brian Williams fabricated a story about being aboard a helicopter during the 2003 Iraq War.