Brian Williams Axed From NBC Anchor Post

NBC executives reached an agreement that will keep Brian Williams at the company, but the exiled Nightly News anchor is off or anchor desk. The decision was made by NBC News Chairman Andy Lack and NBCUni CEO Steve Burke.

Mr. Williams will be kept at the network when his suspension is over in August

The details of Mr. Williams’ new role are unclear but it is likely to involve handling some breaking news for MSNBC, which has major ratings struggles.

Sources say one of the sticking points of the negotiation has been Mr. Williams’ reluctance to make an unequivocal apology for repeated misrepresentations about his experiences reporting in the field. And it is still unclear how Mr. Williams will apologize, though NBC News executives had been pushing for an on-air mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Lester Holt has been filling in for Mr Williams since the scandal broke February. During that time, NBC Nightly News has slipped in the ratings, with ABC’s World News Tonight With David Muir winning several weeks in the 25-54 news demo and among total viewers.

Mr. Williams was found to have misrepresented multiple field assignments beyond the initial fabrication about being in a US military helicopter in Iraq in 2003 that Williams said was downed by enemy RPG fire. Mr. Williams was actually in a chopper more than an hour behind the helicopter that was forced down.

But he relayed the fabricated story during multiple promotional appearances, including on Late Show With David Letterman. He also claimed to have been in Tahrir Square during the Y 2011 uprisings there, making eye contact with a menacing thug on horseback, he told Jon Stewart during an interview on The Daily Show. Mr. Williams was in fact reporting from a balcony overlooking the square.

Brian Williams has been sent to News Siberia.

Stay tuned…

HeffX-LTN

Paul Ebeling

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