News and Entertainment

As a reporter, my opinions are not relevant to what I do.

   Everyone has opinions, and that is their right. They also have a right to express those opinions. However, there may be consequences. Journalists too have opinions, but those opinions are not relevant to what they do. In short, reporters are not paid for their opinions, they are paid to report the comments, views and opinions of others. When reporters insert their opinions into their writing or broadcasting, they become commentators, and there is a place for that, too. At newspapers, that place is called the editorial page, and Page One is the place for straight reporting.
   For decades, television network news anchors and correspondents were reporters, and did not insert themselves into the stories they covered. The mistake by NBC News anchor Brian Williams was in not only talking about his role in news events, but in sometimes embellishing that role. Traditionally, network TV news folk had no role in the events they covered. They were, and should be, reporters, not participants.
   In recent years, however, television news has become more an entertainment medium than a place for straightforward journalism. Indeed, there is plenty of room for entertainment in covering daily events, and many have become quite successful at it. Jon Stewart, for example, or John Oliver or Bill Maher. However, they and others present themselves first as comedians and entertainers, not as reporters. They talk about the news of the day, inserting  their jokes and wisecracks as entertaining comments about the events. 
   Brian Williams, on the other hand, has been a TV network news anchor in the tradition of Tom Brokaw, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite, all of whom kept their opinions off the air. One notable exception, of course, was when Cronkite returned from a reporting trip to Vietnam and, in a clearly labeled editorial opinion at the end of a CBS Evening News broadcast, commented that the war in Vietnam was not one that the U.S. could win.
   Unfortunately, as broadcast news became a profit center for corporate owners, the line between news and entertainment blurred. When cable and satellite TV channels intensified the competition for viewers, networks lost sight of journalistic goals and sharpened their focus on entertainment. This choice, however, did not apply as tightly to cable and satellite operations because they were born in a new television world. Previously, those with broadcast licenses issued by the Federal Communications Communication had to "serve the public interest, convenience and necessity," and were more sober in their presentations.
   Competition and the proliferation of programming outlets changed that. This is not to say that conservative commentators don't have a sense of humor. But comments from personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly often are attacks on liberals which, of course, their fans find humorous, but are not intended as comedy.
   Others present themselves as comedians who indulge in journalism as a comedic vehicle. But journalists who indulge in comedy do so at their peril. No one ever accused Chet Huntley of indulging in comedy on the air.

   So in talking about his role in news events, and at times embellishing that role, Brian Williams became ensnared in the net that separates the two careers. Williams became quite successful in appearing on and sometimes hosting entertainment shows, and telling stories about his role in covering major stories, including supposedly being in a helicopter that was brought down by enemy fire in Iraq. However, it turned out that he was not in the aircraft that was shot down, but in another helicopter following the first, which landed to help the crew of the damaged aircraft.
   When the truth of his non-role became public last week, Williams was forced to step down from the NBC Nightly News anchor chair while things were cleared up. Today, however, NBC suspended him without pay for six months.
   Will he be able to return, or will he be forced to choose between a journalism career and an entertainment career? Perhaps the choice has already been made for him.