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   From: corncobs@kmox.tv   
      
   The bad news, at least for many of the journalists at the   
   network, was NBC News Chairman Andy Lack’s announcement that   
   Williams—who was suspended without pay four months ago after he   
   was caught telling fibs about his adventures in news   
   coverage—will be returning to high-profile roles at the Comcast-   
   owned cable and broadcast outlets.   
      
   Starting in mid-August, Lack said in his statement, Williams   
   will serve not only as “anchor of breaking news and special   
   reports” at the ratings-challenged MSNBC cable operation but   
   also as “a breaking news anchor of NBC News live special reports   
   when Holt is not available.”   
      
   While some at the Peacock Network greeted Lack’s announcement as   
   a welcome display of compassion for a fallen coworker, these   
   Williams sympathizers appeared to be in the minority.   
      
   Unlike his predecessor Tom Brokaw, the anchor did little to make   
   friends among his colleagues, and had a reputation for being   
   standoffish and self-absorbed, with little interest in hard-   
   hitting journalism or promoting the work of others.   
      
   “People in the newsroom are furious,” said an NBC News veteran   
   who, like others who reacted to the personnel shuffle, spoke on   
   condition of anonymity. “Everyone in the hallways is very, very   
   upset and depressed about it.”   
      
   A second NBC veteran told The Daily Beast: “I have yet to speak   
   to anyone in the news organization who wants Brian back and   
   thinks Brian deserves to be back. He has zero support among the   
   rank and file. I shouldn’t say ‘zero.’ There’s almost no support   
   for him in the newsroom.”?   
      
   Williams—who twice sat down with Today show star Matt Lauer in   
   recent days for a mea culpa interview to be broadcast Friday   
   morning and later on Nightly News—offered this apology in the   
   NBC press release: “I’m sorry. I said things that weren’t true.   
   I let down my NBC colleagues and our viewers, and I’m determined   
   to earn back their trust.”   
      
   Lack echoed: “Brian now has the chance to earn back everyone’s   
   trust. His excellent work over twenty-two years at NBC News has   
   earned him that opportunity.”   
      
   And NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke, the ultimate determiner of   
   Williams’s fate, said: “As you would imagine this was a   
   difficult decision. Brian Williams has been with NBC News for a   
   very long time and he has covered countless news events with   
   honor and skill.   
      
   “As I said in February, we believe in second chances, and I am   
   hopeful that this new beginning will be good for Brian and the   
   organization. This matter has been extensively analyzed and   
   deliberated on by NBC. We are moving forward.”   
      
   According to network sources, Burke and NBC News President   
   Deborah Turness (who, interestingly, is not quoted in the NBC   
   release) were at times skeptical of the idea of a Williams   
   comeback, but Lack made a strong case that the anchor could be   
   rehabilitated, having nurtured Williams’s career and positioned   
   him to succeed longtime Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw during   
   Lack’s first 8-year term running NBC News in the 1990s.   
      
   Brokaw—whom Burke consulted during the current crisis—stepped   
   down in favor of Williams in December 2004; the suave, handsome   
   Williams, now 56, consistently out-rated his rival newscasts   
   over the following decade, and last December he re-upped for an   
   additional five years, signing a contract reportedly worth $50   
   million after flirting with the notion of hosting his own late-   
   night talk show.   
      
   Williams, who once confided to a colleague that he wanted   
   ultimately to be a late-night impresario like NBC’s inconic host   
   of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, Jack Paar, reportedly asked an   
   unreceptive Leslie Moonves, the head of CBS, to consider him as   
   a replacement for David Letterman.   
      
   And there you have it.  NBC and MSNBC are not interested in   
   news, honor, truth or integrity.   
      
   Of course we knew that.   
      
   Any company who would hire Bob Costas and Rachel Madcow is a   
   couple buildings short of a campus anyway.   
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)