Our Turn: Brian Williams

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Like many of our wounds, NBC news anchor Brian Williams' injuries are all self-inflicted - first, the inflation of his war resume in the Middle East and then, his recollections of covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

This August, as we mark the 10th anniversary of Katrina, there will be plenty of opportunities for journalists and others to engage in this same type of exaggerated story-telling. Those embellishments diminish the true sacrifices of the people who really suffered in these events. They also cloud our ability to learn from the past, and everyone on the Gulf knows that the lessons of Hurricane Katrina are critically important.

Brian Williams' plight of course has our interest because we share our line of work with him. When he tarnishes the profession, some of that rubs off on us, and we don't like it. We ask our political leaders not to hide the truth from us, and we ask our journalists not to embellish it.

That's "Our Turn." Now, it's your turn. To comment on this segment or anything else, visit us on Facebook or send an email to yourturn@wafb.com.