Will Brian Williams Further Damage Trust in NBC's Nightly News?

There is an old saying: "The cover up is always worse than the lie [or crime]." That could very well be true with regard to the recently exposed lying of NBC News Anchor Brian Williams.

Accurate reporting is the one thing that most Americans expect from their news sources.  In a January 30th release of their annual polling on trusted names in the news, Public Policy Polling found the following results:

"35% of Americans say they trust Fox News more than any other TV news outlet, followed by 14% for PBS, 11% for ABC, 10% for CNN, 9% for CBS, 6% each for Comedy Central and MSNBC, and 3% for NBC."

Trust in NBC was already polling dead last at just 3%; and, this was before the Williams "lying" scandal even broke.  So, now we know that Brian Williams had a habit of greatly embellishing stories to, I suppose, improve his image or brand.  But, what we also found out is that NBC's management had known of their Williams-problem for years and allowed it to continue.  In fact, they even promoted him to Managing Editor so he could oversee all news reporting for that network.  That's more than just a cover up and a fact that may very well further damage what little trust NBC News was left.

Lastly, in another study released a year ago, only 15% of those under age 30 could even recognize Brian Williams when shown a picture of him.  Now, thanks to his own attempts to elevate his image, I'm quite sure that there are a lot more than 15% who know who he is; and, not in a good way. 


References:

PPP's 5th annual poll about trust in TV news continues to find what it does every year: Fox News is both the most trusted and least trusted name in news.: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/01/fox-news-once-again-most-and-least-trusted-name-in-news.html

The Brian Williams scandal is an NBC News-wide scandal: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2015/02/05/the-brian-williams-scandal-is-an-nbc-news-wide-scandal/

Brian Williams Has Been Lying For Years And NBC News Knew About It, Insiders Say: http://www.inquisitr.com/1824127/brian-williams-has-been-lying-for-years-and-nbc-news-knew-about-it-insiders-say/

Study: Network News Viewers at All-Time Low; Half Under Age 30 Never Watch News: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-boland/study-network-news-viewers-all-time-low-half-under-age-30-never-watch