One of the ways that children learn about morals is by their parents telling them there are bad consequences for bad behavior.
Like everything else about America, that cause-and-effect moral lesson is also thrown out of the window.
Case in point: NBC’s deal with lying NBC Nightly News anchorman Brian Williams.
Sharon Waxman And Jordan Chariton report for The Wrap, June 18, 2015, that an NBC “insider” told The Wrap that Brian Williams will still earn close to $10 million a year despite his demotion to a breaking news role at MSNBC, which has at best just 10% the audience of the “NBC Nightly News” broadcast.
The insider said that Williams would be making “between $8 and $10 million,” a figure considered by the disgraced newsman to be a big cut in pay from the $15 million he was paid as the network anchor.
An NBC News spokesman declined to comment, saying that the network won’t discuss personnel contracts.
But multiple individuals told TheWrap that Williams’ salary cut was not as significant as might be expected, given how much smaller the MSNBC audience is than that of the network he was leaving.
In early June, the half-hour “NBC Nightly News” averaged 7,868,000 viewers per night and 1,928,000 in the 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen figures. By contrast, on Tuesday, June 16, MSNBC’s highest-rated show was “The Rachel Maddow Show,” an hour-long broadcast with 742,000 viewers and just 166,999 in the 25-54 demo.
According to insiders, Williams was offered at least one possible option that would have allowed him to stay at NBC though not at the nightly telecast. He chose to go to MSNBC instead. In the heated negotiations, his best ally was Andrew Lack, the former NBC president who recently returned to become NBC News chairman and who knows Williams well. NBCU chairman Steven Burke was known to have been furious at Williams and wanted him fired, but calmed down over time and agreed to an outcome that allowed everyone to save face.
Meanwhile, Williams continues to take criticism internally from colleagues at the network, and is not much better liked at MSNBC, where he anchored a show in its early years.
“A big conversation here is what kind of message does this send — are lies OK on MSNBC, but not NBC?” one MSNBC insider told TheWrap, adding that producers feel executives are more interested in the possible ratings surge Williams can provide the struggling network rather than in protecting its credibility.
But one executive at a rival network predicted it would not impact the ailing cable news channel, “It’s not going to make any difference for MSNBC. What MSNBC needs is a series of new prime time shows, and this doesn’t solve this.”
Williams worked at MSNBC in the early parts of his NBC career, anchoring “The News With Brian Williams” in the late 1990s. He was elevated to anchor of “NBC Nightly News” in 2004, replacing the legendary Tom Brokaw.
Williams will anchor breaking news during the day for the “Lean Forward” network, boosting the network’s recent pivot to hard news. He will also serve as a breaking news anchor for NBC News live special reports in addition to his MSNBC assignment.
The network said it “found that Williams made a number of inaccurate statements about his own role and experiences covering events in the field” while emphasizing that most of Williams’ fibs “did not for the most part occur on NBC News platforms or in the immediate aftermath of the news events, but rather on late-night programs and during public appearances, usually years after the news events in question.” Blah, blah, blah….
See also “NBC news anchor Brian Williams admits he lied”.
~Éowyn
