Brian Williams is stepping away from the NBC News anchor chair for at least a few days, according to an internal memo made public by the network.
That is at the very least an acknowledgement by the anchor that the crisis is real, the ongoing investigation into his actions is warranted and that there is no way to go on with business as usual and pretend all is well.
The scope of the inquiry has expanded beyond Williams’ mistaken memory of being shot at in a helicopter in Iraq to include statements he made regarding his coverage of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.
To have continued to read the news, as he did on Friday’s “NBC Nightly News” with no mention of the swirling controversy, would have signaled a bunker mentality for a stonewalling journalist. Instead, he wrote, “it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions.”
