NBC News anchor Brian Williams' admission of falsely claiming that he was on ahelicopter forced down in Iraq in 2003 drew harsh words from media critics as well aspeople on social media on Thursday.
Usually, it is admirable for a person, especially a celebrity, to honestly confess his or herwrongdoing as most people tend to weasel out of their mistakes.
However, the timing and approach of the anchor's apology was dubious.
Williams retracted his story only after being challenged by veterans writing on theFacebook and a military publication, "Stars and Stripes," which has a timeline showing hisshifting version of events over the years.
Crew members said that the NBC anchor was not on board the aircraft which was hit bytwo rockets and small arms and that Williams arrived in the area about an hour later onanother helicopter after the crippled aircraft made an emergency landing. ' In Williams'case, fabricating a story of him surviving an air attack broke the basic code of media ethics,whose harm can not be repaired by a mere apology.
In the long run, the episode may not only damage the anchor's own credibility, but evenfurther erode Americans' trust in news media as well as the world's faith in the U.S. media.
For decades, credibility, the most valuable asset for news media, has been edgingdownward from high levels in the United States.
According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans' confidence in the media's ability to report"the news fully, accurately, and fairly" was at its all-time low of 40 percent in 2014.
The falloff in credibility is partly due to many ultra-hyped stories that pandered to luridcuriosity or practices of rushing to judgement on unverified information, including thelack of professionalism in news reports about the Ferguson incident and the Syrian crisis,among others.
The Society of Professional Journalists has declared four principles as the foundation ofethical journalism and encouraged their use in its practice by all people in all media. Theyare: Seek Truth and Report It; Minimize Harm; Act Independently; Be Accountable andTransparent.
This code of ethics should be upheld by all news professionals. As the U.S. media issuffering a crisis of confidence, its journalists should work hard to restore their credibilityby firmly following these principles.
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