Just Write Communications
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Clients
  • Testimonials
  • Writing Tips
  • Weekly Chuckle
  • Meals We Steal
  • Bad Golf

Unofficial Polling on Brian Williams

2/22/2015

0 Comments

 
Like other crucial issues facing the world, I have conducted my own unscientific random poll over the past two weeks on Brian Willams and what should happen to him.  Last week, we introduced the topic in this column.  This week, we’ll add some details from our poll, and comment on what it means about how we consume media, pay attention to the news (or not), and the generational changes in how we follow and perceive public issues.  Let’s go.

Encountering people the past two weeks, I would frequently ask the question:  “Pretend you are the head of NBC News.  You have to decide what to do with Brian Williams.  What is your decision?”

Oddly, many people had trouble wrapping their hands around the question.  They meandered, talking about what they thought happened, but they wouldn’t make a decision until I stopped them and refocused their attention:  “You have to make a decision about what to do with him.  Pretend you are the NBC Chief and have all-encompassing power for the station.  What are you going to do?”

This brought most people back to earth.  The answers fell into three camps:  1) Fire him. 2) Give him some form of long suspension, with the opportunity to return, depending on circumstances.  3) Apply a small slap on the wrist, but let him continue after a short penalty (a fine and/or time-off without pay).  Note that answers 2 and 3 are very similar and differ based on severity of the penalty (in direct relation to how much the respondent “liked” Williams; the more they liked him, the shorter and less severe was the penalty – big surprise there).

Twenty-seven people responded to my random question.  Nine said “fire him” immediately (33% of respondents).  Six didn’t know who Brian Williams was (22%).  Four wanted strong penalties imposed (15%).  Eight wanted lesser penalties imposed, and typically stated before responding, “I really like him” (30%).  Percentage numbers are rounded.  My intuition says these numbers reflect reality in the U.S.

Here are some additional incisive findings:  Of those who didn’t know who Brian Williams was, all except one were under the age of 30.  This led to multiple discussions about how people get the news today, particularly the Millenial Generation, which tends to use social media rather than watching the Evening News.  Because people are on the go, in general, respondents were not well-versed on what actually Williams had done.

Fifteen years ago, it’s likely that 95% of the people you spoke with on the street would have known who Tom Brokaw (NBC), Peter Jennings (ABC) and Dan Rather (CBS) were:  Nightly news anchors for those respective networks.  Now, most people probably can’t name more than one major anchor.

In fact, in our follow-up poll, we asked random citizens if they knew who Lester Holt was (the immediate stand-in for Williams, who previously was the weekend news anchor for NBC).  Going up to people on the street, it became clear that less than 25% of the population knew Mr. Holt, though that will obviously now change given his elevated status.

Those who deliver the news have a major responsibility to cover the issues fully and in-depth, while being as accurate as possible.  We are a subjective species, which means there is no true “objective” reporting.  We cannot expect perfection, but we can expect commitment to thorough and “responsible” coverage.

Wiilliams distorted and manipulated the news, at a minimum.  For that he will pay a personal and professional price, one he may not recover from.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All

Proudly powered by Weebly