美國全國廣播公司已停職六個月的晚間新聞主播布萊恩威廉姆斯沒有報酬。處罰之際，美國全國廣播公司新聞部（NBC News）繼續調查威廉姆斯對伊拉克戰爭期間發生的事件的錯誤複述，這一失誤使美國晚間新聞界的頭號人物（以及NBC新聞部的所有成員）陷入了爭議之中。威廉姆斯在《晚間新聞》上接替湯姆·布羅考，一直被視為電視網最可靠、最值得信賴的人物之一。

但在1月30日的晚間新聞報道中，威廉姆斯“歪曲了2003年報道伊拉克戰爭時發生的事件，”NBC現在承認。他告訴NBC的數百萬觀眾，他乘坐的一架直升機被敵人的炮火擊落；多年來，威廉姆斯多次背誦這個千變萬化的故事，甚至在大衛·萊特曼（David lettman）的晚間節目中重覆了一遍。

不過，最終還是Facebook的一條評論線索——曾經被軍事雜誌《星條旗》（Stars and Stripes）收錄——把威廉姆斯可疑的記憶變成了全國頭條新聞，把NBC受人尊敬的新聞業務搞得一團糟。上週末，威廉姆斯宣佈他將暫時退出晚間新聞，但NBC對自己收視率最高的晚間主播進行了更嚴格的約束。

威廉姆斯承認，他在Facebook和隨後的晚間新聞廣播中都“記錯”了這一集，但這一道歉對許多觀眾來說是空洞的。NBC的調查尚未得出結論，但該電視臺顯然有足夠的信心立即對威廉姆斯釋出停播令。”這是錯誤的，完全不適合布賴恩這樣的人，”NBC新聞總裁德博拉·特內斯（Deborah Turness）在今晚分發給員工和新聞媒體的備忘錄中說作為《晚間新聞》的總編輯和主播，布萊恩有責任做到真實，並始終堅持新聞部門的高標準。“萊斯特·霍爾特將在威廉姆斯缺席的情況下繼續執掌《晚間新聞》。Turness的完整備忘錄如下。

All,

We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately.  We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News.

Our review, which is being led by Richard Esposito working closely with NBCUniversal General Counsel Kim Harris, is ongoing, but I think it is important to take you through our thought process in coming to this decision.

While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasi*** Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position.

In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field.

As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a resp***ibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times.

Steve Burke, Pat Fili and I came to this decision together. We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work Brian has done and the special relati***hip he has forged with our viewers over 22 years.  Milli*** of Americans have turned to him every day, and he has been an important and well-respected part of our organization.

As I’m sure you understand, this was a very hard decision. Certainly there will be those who disagree.  But we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action.

This has been a difficult time. But NBC News is bigger than this moment. You work so hard and dedicate yourselves each and every day to the important work of bringing trusted, credible news to our audience. Because of you, your loyalty, your dedication, NBC News is an organization we can — and should — all be proud of. We will get through this together.

Steve Burke asked me to share the following message.

"This has been a painful period for all concerned and we appreciate your patience while we gathered the available facts. By his acti***, Brian has jeopardized the trust milli*** of Americans place in NBC News.  His acti*** are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate.  Brian’s life’s work is delivering the news. I know Brian loves his country, NBC News and his colleagues. He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him.  Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone’s trust."

Deborah

更正：文章最初將威廉姆斯稱為“有線電視收視率最高的晚間主播”。事實上，他在網路新聞主播中的收視率領先。