Poor Brian Williams, the anchorman for the NBC evening news, had to apologize for a story he told about being in a helicopter that had been attacked in Iraq. Some people argue this sort of thing happens all the time. Our memories play tricks on us, which is why people are worried that police lineups and first person accounts sometimes lead to false convictions.
Andy and I are aware that we can’t completely trust our memories. Our stories of the same event in the past can sometimes be very different. If there’s a way of checking for the facts, we do it, but often we simply have to shrug our shoulders and say, “Who knows?” At least one of us — the other one, of course 🙂 — has to be wrong, just proving we can’t always believe everything we think.
February 6, 2015
Two persons experiencing the same event can register different impressions of the same event. We are subjective when we judge people and events and we can also confuse similar events with each other for date and place. To make a big deal of it will be foolish and detrimental to relationships. In this case however, the reporter is expected to be truthful and that is what is being questioned by the revelation of a soldier who was in the helicopter.
Yes, reporters, and anchormen, are supposed to check their facts. NBC seems to be sticking by him, for now at least. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
It is amazing to learn that your memory of something is just not right. I see it time and time again, in myself and in others. And, I also notice after events that I didn’t notice certain details, like a description of the jerk who was breaking the law in the national forest…
At least they’re starting to doubt eye-witness testimonies and picking people out of police lineups. If one has time we could probably train ourselves to look more closely and try to remember, but it’s hard if we’re having a strong emotional reaction.
what a graceful and gracious apology.
i could see how easily someone non military could mistake an event …
when everything going on is strange and happening very quickly.
i hope they will let this go. it’s not worth ruining this man’s career over it.
it seems we delight in taking people down in this country anymore.
i’m all for correct and truthful reporting. but as he said… he was trying to honor a veteran. i’m taking his word for that.
I feel sorry for him, but I’m guessing he will have to resign. He’s lost his credibility, and that was one of his main assets.
Here’s the latest I’ve read on the subject.