Logo

Washington Post

Report: Staffers Opposed Brian Williams’ Return in ‘Contentious Meeting’ at NBC News

Apr 24, 2015  •  Post A Comment

A new report says opposition has been voiced at NBC News to Brian Williams’ return to the anchor chair on “Nightly News.”

The Washington Post reports: “Journalists in NBC News’s powerful Washington bureau expressed strong opposition to the potential return of suspended anchorman Brian Williams during a contentious meeting with the head of the network’s news division in February.”

In the Washington meeting with NBC News President Deborah Turness, staffers reportedly made “a sometimes angry series of comments,” arguing that Williams’ misstatements about his Iraq war coverage have damaged the network’s credibility, The Post reports.

Citing sources who were at the meeting, the article says journalists at the meeting argued that Williams should not be returned to the anchor chair. One source described the atmosphere at the meeting as a “bloodbath” for Williams.

Turness reportedly also met with the New York bureau around the same time to discuss the Williams situation.

Please click on the link near the top of this story to read the Post’s full report.

nbc nightly news with brian williams

6 Comments

  1. To paraphrase Sally Field, they don’t like him, they really don’t like him.

  2. And yet, without Williams, the Nightly News ratings have really slid. Apparently, VIEWERS still like him and the ratings show they want him back.

  3. I don’t. Brian blew it. Lester Holt would be a great new anchor.

  4. They need a true journalist after this debacle and they have it in Lester Holt. The news should not be about “personalities” while I liked Brian Williams just fine, I always thought they missed the mark by not giving the job to Lester to begin with. I hope they don’t screw him over after the 6 month suspension, they’ll end up losing more viewers and many will never think of NBC as a credible news source again.

  5. When is Bryan Williams coming back, the substitute is ok but doesn’t deliver the News with the finess Bryan did, this Station makes some big mistakes like replacing Ann Curry to please Matt Lauer on the Today Show, ratings dropped then too.
    My piers and I have been watching ABC ever since he was so rudely suspended.

  6. I believe an anchor should be a journalist first and on-air personality second. I also think NBC would jeopardize its credibility further if Lester Holt is not put in the anchor chair on a permanent basis. I’m a career journalist, both print and (cable) news, although I’ve never worked at NBC and my predominant career was print.

Leave a Reply to Doug Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)