Top anchor takes self off the air indefinitely
Print Edition
Top US television anchor Brian Williams is taking himself off the air for “several days” as he faces an internal probe for embellishing an Iraq war story.
Williams, 55, who reportedly earns US$10 million a year and is watched by an estimated 9 million Americans each night, admitted earlier last week that a story he has repeated on air about coming under fire was not true.
“In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions,” Williams said in a note posted on NBC’s website on Saturday.
“As managing editor of ‘NBC Nightly News,’ I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue,” he added.
“Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us,” he said, without specifying when he will be back on the air.
On Friday, NBC launched an internal probe about Williams’s claims that he came under fire in a helicopter in 2003, amid criticism from troops who were present at the time.
His on-air apology on Wednesday further fanned the flames, with critics refusing to accept Williams made an honest mistake.
The embellished tale dates back at least to an interview with US chat show king David Letterman in 2013.
Fox News reported on Saturday NBC was not conducting a formal internal probe into Williams and instead had launched a “journalistic fact-gathering” mission to better understand the situation.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
