WASHINGTON — A longtime friend of suspended NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams says that he thinks the newsman fell victim to two temptation that prey on a lot of news anchors.
Mark Simone, a host on radio station WOR in New York, told WTOP on Tuesday night that he “can’t get inside [Williams’} mind,” but says that in discussions with other TV-news people, Simone says, even the best anchors “envy those reporters out there in the field. They always wish they had those reporter chops.”
He says Williams’ embellishments of the stories of his Iraq War experience that have gotten him into trouble weren’t necessary: “He’s a guy who took chances.” For all his exaggerations, Williams “was in a helicopter in a war zone; he was flying over those Katyusha rockets; he was in Katrina. So there was no need to embellish anything. But that desire to be the really heroic reporter, I think that’s what happened.”
He calls Williams “The finest anchorman we’ve had … in the 21st century,” but also notes that Williams had in recent years stepped beyond the news into the world of celebrity, hosting “Saturday Night Live” and appearing on programs such as “The Tonight Show” and “The Daily Show.”
Simone thinks that brush with fame “got him into the embellishing business. Because that’s what you do when you’re a celebrity — the worst crime you can commit is to not be interesting enough. So when you go on those talk shows, you juice up the stories a little. So the celebrity in him was doing that. If you look at the reports he had done through the years, were all very honest on the same incidents. …
“In today’s world of 700 channels, maybe you have to do that.”
The Iraq recollections may not be the end of Williams’ problems. Simone notes that Lester Holt, who has taken over for Williams since he announced last week that he was stepping down voluntarily in the wake of the revelations, said on the air that the network was looking into “stories” — plural — Williams told that weren’t holding up.
Simone adds that Richard Esposito is heading the NBC internal investigation of Williams, and Simone says that some of Williams’ other anecdotes are also “falling apart,” including the one about a gang attacking Williams in the hotel he was staying in while covering Hurricane Katrina.
“Six months is a long suspension,” Simone says. “I’ve never seen anyone come back from that.”
Does he forgive him?
Simone thought a moment before responding, “Uh, yeah.”
He added, “I don’t think you throw away all those years of anchoring the news, really being the best in the world, over just a couple of little things off the air. You can’t condone it, but there’s a mountain of great work he’s done through the years.”
Still, as Williams’ friend, Simone says, “I feel terrible about this. …
“The other Brian Williams, who I see off the air, is a wonderful guy who does a lot of work for charities, a lot of work for schools,” generous with both his time and his money.
“I would try to give him a second chance.”
