NBC News Boss: Lyin' Brian is Off The Hook

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NewsBusters:

Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple grabbed a quick interview with NBC News president Andrew Lack at the first presidential debate at Hofstra University. Lack predictably talked up Brian Williams and his new show The 11th Hour as “off to a nice start.” Actually, Williams is losing in the key 25-54 demo to CNN’s Don Lemon. Worse yet, both CNN and MSNBC are trounced by an O’Reilly Factor rerun on Fox.

But Lack tried to claim the serial-exaggeration scandal that forced Williams out of his NBC Nightly News anchor chair last year was already “ancient history”.

The blog Inside Cable News disagreed with Lack’s “ancient history” spin, criticizing NBC: 

“It chose to bury the story rather than do what CBS did with the Thornburgh report which did a complete and very public number on Rathergate”. 

A Matt Lauer interview only compounded things.” 

“I told the story correctly for years before I told it incorrectly. I was not trying to mislead people. That, to me, is a huge difference here.”

Lauer pushed back: 

“But wait a second, you say, ‘I was not trying to mislead people,’ but I need to make sure we understand each other here. Did you know when you went on Nightly News that you were telling a story that was not true?” 

Again, Williams denied intentional dishonesty: 

“I never intended to. It got mixed up. It got turned around in my mind.”

When asked whether Williams had left behind some unfinished business in that Lauer interview, Lack responded, “Ancient history to me.”

This “ancient history” spin from NBC is a also a little strange coming from a network whose newscast is still broadcasting hyperbole about “Bridgegate Bombshells.”