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Brian Williams Haunted By Undead Tom Brokaw: Report
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 9, 2015
Modified Mar 9, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 9, 2015
Modified Mar 9, 2015
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New York magazine has a big feature on the troubles at NBC News, and there are a number of notable moments nestled within. The Post really liked the anecdote about embattled Brian Williams' feelings about Tom Brokaw, and rushed to the Photoshop Department of work up this cover.
According to the New York, Williams enjoyed being more of an entertainer than a news man:
“Brian chafed at reading the prompter,” a senior NBC executive said. He also felt embraced by the entertainment community in a way he never was by NBC’s old guard, especially Russert and Tom Brokaw, his predecessor. Brokaw’s coldness seemed to heighten Williams’s sensitivities about being a blue-collar guy from New Jersey who had never finished college or been a war correspondent. Last summer, around the time Chuck Todd took over as moderator of Meet the Press, several staffers recalled that Williams told him: “At least your ghost is dead. Mine is still walking the building.”
The article seems like Festivus for disgruntled NBC News employees; seemingly everyone who hates their boss at NBC News is weighing in! There's also subtext that the news division couldn't handle the two female leaders—NBC News chair Patricia Fili-Krushel and NBC News president Deborah Turness—and some alleged misogyny from Today show anchor Matt Lauer:
When Fili-Krushel proposed installing a troika of female producers to oversee the show, Lauer and Guthrie nixed the plan. “This is like Lilith Fair,” Lauer complained to a senior producer, according to a source, referring to the ’90s all-female rock festival.
But back to Williams: Apparently his wife wasn't reading any "negative" stories about him, so she reportedly told NBC executives, "If you take him off the air you’ll be sending the message that he did something wrong"—to which Wililams said, "Honey, you haven’t seen the stuff." And one senior NBC News employee told the magazine, "Very, very few people like him. The phrase you hear constantly: ‘What goes around comes around.’"
Sounds like a really healthy work atmosphere.
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brian williams
ghost
nbc news
tom brokaw
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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