The problem I have with this line of reasoning is that it seems to presuppose there’s two kinds of people in the world–those who are susceptible to having false memories, and those who are not; and people of the former kind should not be managing editors, presidents, etc. I’m no expert but AFAICT it would be more accurate to describe it as a universal bug in the human psyche.
The book The Invisible Gorilla devotes a chapter to this topic and discusses, in addition to the HRC false memory, George W. Bush’s claim that he saw video of the first plane hitting the WTC on a TV screen prior to entering the classroom where he read to the kindergarteners. Well, the only problem is that the first plane wasn’t caught on camera. So, he was either 1) lying, 2) had a false memory, or 3) did indeed watch the first plane hit because he was in on the whole thing and secretly watching it (as some 9/11 truthers concluded from hearing the story).
I’ve never been in combat, but I would imagine that if an RPG hit one’s helicopter, one would know - assuming the RPG went off explosively with full normal force.
There are at least a couple of people posting in this thread that get their news almost exclusively from Fox News and Talk Radio. I wonder if they apply the same standards to those sources? If Fox fired everyone who told lies on the air, they’d be lucky to fill two hours of airtime a day.
This has nothing to do with presidents. Presidents are politicians. Politicians are required to lie at least 3 times a day or they have to go to bed without their dessert. Journalists and people who are paid to tell me facts should be held to a higher standard.
Can we let go of Bush already or should I start bringing up lies Clinton told? And how far back do we want to go, Polk, Adams?
Yeah, but in this case, based on what Stars and Stripes is saying, the only time HE actually claimed that he was on the helicopter that was hit by the RPG was last week. All the others were either him saying that it was another helicopter, or someone else reporting it.
In this case, it sounds like 12 years after a fishing trip, he remembered that a fish got caught, and mistakenly thought he’d caught it, when in fact, his buddy had caught it.
I’ve met a few TV news reporters in the Bay Area. Leslie Griffiths, Belva Davis and Vern Hawkins. They are amazingly smart people.
It isn’t. But for the purposes of what I consume as news, there is very little difference. Just as a bought judge is just as bad as a biased judge for the party on the short end.
I think this represents a serious lack of integrity on his part. I think it would be reasonable to fire him over this. That is a decision that should be made by NBC based on how it effects thier viewership.
What I find is complete bullshit is the calls from the right for him to be fired. If you don’t even watch NBC to begin with what business is it of yours? Some are trying to take advantage of this incident to try and take out an industry rival. Thier calls to have him fired makes me seriously question thier integrity, which by thier own standards should result in thier own firings right?
I don’t have a problem with NBC firing him if they feel that it’s the right thing to do. But the batshit over the top reaction from the right wing is sad and predictable. NBC and MSNBC are the whipping boys for the right wing and the right just wants a bloody scalp to wave.
It was 12 years ago. No one, including the soldiers that were there can be expected to have and accurate record of events, just from their own memories.
What this “scandal” should show people is how unreliable human memory is as a record of events. Intuitively, it would seem that no one would “misremember” such a major event. But intuition is often wrong, and the science is pretty clear.
A memory isn’t a write-once recording. It’s at best a fuzzy outline of events, where the brain often just invents details to fill in the gaps. Even if the original outline is false, the brain will still make up details to fill in the gaps (see “Lost in a mall” study). It’s susceptible to “interference”. That is it, our memory of events is disrupted and changed by other events, things we hear and see, and memories of earlier events. Additionally, memories are altered every time we recall them.
While his helicopter may not have been shot down, what Williams did experience was probably still a scary and dramatic event. He probably later heard the story of the other helicopter being shot down, and based on the emotional memory of what he did experience, his brain conflated the two events. Once this new memory was established, his brain went to work filling in all the details, and it became just a vivid and real as any other memory.
Williams, being human is susceptible to the same quirks of human memory as any one else. It seems much more likely to me that really did just misremember events than a seasoned journalist would fabricate such an easily checked story. Especially knowing that it could destroy his career and reputation.
As usual discussions like this ones are the **only **times I check at what leftist sources like the Democratic Underground are commenting about the controversy. Not many defenders of Williams, the defenses are mostly about being fair and remembering how human memory is not reliable, but most do remind others that NBC remains a part of the corporate media, so more than a few agree that he should be sacked… Or that he should move to FOX News.
The point here is what I have noticed in many of this discussions, that a good number of people on the right do not have a good understanding of how the mainstream media is seen by many on the left side in the USA. The mainstream is not really as responsive to what the left (and the center) seesas important issues. The Right wing media and the corporate one do know which side of the bread is buttered.
It’s pretty god-damned difficult to believe a newscaster went on David Letterman and told a harrowing story, much to the benefit of his credentials and aggrandized “street cred,” only to turn out he was in a helicopter that experienced no such traumatic event and he simply misremembered.
He lied to make himself look good. Whether or not he deserves to lose his job is debatable, but not that his memory is so bad he couldn’t remember the story. He sure told it well enough on The Late Show.
Perhaps, but from personal experience I can tell you that a person will never mistake being fired on with, you know, not. You just don’t get confused about whether or not your helicopter was hit with an RPG, or if your hooch was hit with incoming mortar or rocket fire, or if your vehicle ran over an IED. It’s been over 40 years and I remember it like it was yesterday. It’s more likely that the more he embellished the story over the years without being challenged, the more loosely he played with the facts, and then couldn’t back out of it without looking foolish and dishonest. And whaddya know: he does.
