The Media Research Center, the point of the lance in neutralizing liberal media bias, conducted a survey by McLaughlin and Associates after Brian Williams was suspended for six months by NBC. Williams had either embellished–or outright fabricated–a series of stories in his career, specifically that his Chinook helicopter was forced to the ground after being hit with an RPG.
According to the survey, the MRC found that 66 percent thought that Williams should have been fired; 71 percent thought that despite his apology and suspension, he should resign from the network; and 61 percent are less likely to trust NBC News if they allow Williams to return to the anchor’s desk. A little more than 1,000 people constituted the sample size.
MRCTV’s Dan Joseph went to American Legion Post 270 in McLean, Virginia to get a veteran’s take on this journalistic fiasco. Their response was measured, while members of their family were a little more aggressive in their criticism of Williams. One of them said he shouldn’t be trusted with the news anymore, while another veteran said that it appears he lied about his Iraq War exploits. One of them was shot by a SAM missile over Vietnam, and said that he will never forget that experience.
In a statement about the poll–and this whole debacle–MRC President Brent Bozell said:
“This poll confirms that the American people no longer trust Brian Williams to report the news. When the American people believe by such wide margins that your lead anchor is a liar, you have no other option but to fire him if he will not do the honorable thing and resign. Any effort by NBC News to rehabilitate its tarnished brand can only begin under new leadership for its flagship nightly news program. This is no longer about Brian Williams’ reputation. This is about NBC News having any chance of being a credible source of news.”
As mentioned in a previous post, it’s unlikely that Williams will return.
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