Memorandum To: Deborah Turness, President of NBC News Re: Brian Williams and Chinookgate From: Aristotle

The analysis I am setting before you is regarding the situation involving your Managing Director of NBC Nightly News Brian Williams. I understand that Mr. Williams has recently been suspended as a result of untruthful statements that he made about one of the stories he has covered as a journalist, and which he has continued to discuss and embellish while on the air at NBC and during numerous public appearances. In reviewing recent articles on the matter, and after watching Mr. Williams’ on air apology which was televised on Wednesday February 4th, I have learned that Mr. Williams has exaggerated accounts of his involvement with a group of helicopters who had one of their aircrafts downed by a rocket propelled grenade during the early days of the Iraq War Invasion in 2003. Up to recent days, it has been Mr. Williams’ assertion that he was a passenger on the one aircraft which received the direct impact of the grenade, and which subsequently caught fire. Notable instances of Mr. Williams making this claim are when he made an appearance on the David Letterman show in 2013 and again this year when he covered a Rangers game where retired Soldier Tim Terpack was being publicly honored. It seems that such Rangers game was the last instance when Mr. Williams’ version of the 2003 events would take flight, as the account did not land well with other soldiers who were part of the group of helicopters. One soldier in particular, Sgt. Joseph Miller, has clear memories of the event surrounding the rocket grenade of the attacks; the details from Mr. Miller’s account differ from those provided by Mr. Williams. Adding credibility to Mr. Miller’s claims are Lance Reynolds, who worked as flight engineer on one of the aircrafts, and Mike O’Keefe who worked as door gunner on the aircraft that was downed. I find the previously laid out facts to be puzzling in the face of the multi media-high tech society that your company, NBC, finds itself in. I am at first surprised by the amount of time that Mr. Williams’ lie was allowed to have a life. I question how it was able to go on for twelve years without being publicly questioned to the point where its every detail would have died from such constant investigation. From this puzzlement comes my first question for NBC News: Are the qualifications for the individual holding the Managing Director position at NBC more aligned with those found in an entertainer than with a journalist? As an individual who is recently becoming acquainted with your society’s structure in the dissemination of relevant information, I would assume that the role of Managing Director would be one that would be responsible for providing leadership to the entire team of news professionals that he or she leads. Under this assumption it would follow that the Managing Director’s leadership sets the standard of integrity for your news corporation. In stepping forward and admitting the Mr. Williams mis-remembered facts about a story which he previously reported on, Mr. Williams made a statement that directly proves that he lacks the most important criteria to hold his job: credibility. Additionally, I am aware of Mr. Williams popularity among entertainers as I read praises about his “comedic styling” in a publication called New York Magazine where there was much discussion of Mr. Williams not only being aware of his “news instrument” but also of his “comedic instrument.” I was also made aware of Mr. Williams’ appearances on popular talk show host Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, where he participated in a comedic bit called “Slow Jamming the News.” It is while viewing repeated instances where Mr. Williams engaged with viewers by communicating through popular entertainers that I began to ask myself if Mr. Williams’ skills are better suited for work as an entertainer than they are for work as journalistic leader. I believe NBC News must ask themselves the same question in deciding Mr. Williams’ future as Managing Director. I would like dedicate the next portion of my commentary to the question of Pathos and in looking at Mr. Williams’ appeal to the emotions of your viewership I pose the following question: Is NBC News concerned with further losing their viewers if harsher actions than a suspension are taken against Mr. Williams? This question comes at the observation that NBC News’ response to Mr. Williams’ admission came after one week of silence. It is understandable that a company the size and importance of NBC News, and its parent NBC Universal, would want to avoid rash decision making; on the other hand one needs to look at the decisiveness of a company such as NBC News, one of the leaders in its category. It is my belief that taking a week to issue a response to Mr. Williams admission, and that response being a suspension which lasts 6 months and that leaves the ties with Mr. Williams intact, sends the message that sentimentality is taking a more dominant role in NBC News’ decision making than credibility is. It is to the previously stated issue that I offer the following solution: In order to take advantage of Mr. Williams’ existing emotional connection with your viewership, and his respect among the leading comedic entertainers in your nation, I recommend that you offer Mr. Williams the opportunity to helm a show that had lower credibility requirements (possibly with one of the entities owned by your parent company NBC Universal) but that could benefit from his charm and charisma. Finally I would like to engage in a discussion on logos and ask: What strategic plans does NBC News have for engaging in the new technologies I have observed that are being utilized by those of your younger generations. In particular I have become interested in the notion of the hashtag as I have noticed it is a tool utilized by those savvy in the use of computers, and who know their way around the internet. I will now share with you some interesting images that I have found from viewing different hashtags:

The hashtag #BrianWilliamsWarStories produced the following image:

The hashtag #BrianWilliamsMemories produced the following image:

The hashtag #ChopperWhopper produced the following image:

In witnessing the ease with which communication occurs among your society, I see a missed opportunity that NBC News has to appeal to individuals who are connected to you, the world and each other through the use of technology. Presently, It seems that such individuals are utilising your society’s highly sophisticated tools to communicate about events occurring in your society in lighthearted yet relevant ways; take the examples of the above displayed images and their hashtags which help to direct the attention of those who view them. I believe NBC has the opportunity to work more strategically with the same tools in order to draw in a very sophisticated market by providing them a response in their same arena and by helping to direct their attention; such a move could help turn around the image of NBC News in the eyes of such individuals and help draw them in. Strategically, NBC News would benefit from the influx of a new, younger, viewership-such a move could only help NBC News’ financial bottom line.

References: http://nymag.com/news/media/brian-williams-2011-5/ http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/nbcs-brian-williams-admits-to-lying-on-air/ http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/nbcs-brian-williams-admits-to-lying-on-air/ http://www.stripes.com/news/brian-williams-false-iraq-statements-now-full-blown-crisis-at-nbc-1.328307 http://www.npr.org/2015/02/12/385793965/brian-williams-case-raises-fundamental-questions-about-an-anchor s-role http://deadline.com/2015/02/brian-williams-iraq-lie-nightly-news-1201366830/