Name: Brian Williams, Bill O'Reilly, and the age of social media scandals
Uploaded: 2015-02-27
Duration: 6 min 23 s
Description: How do scandals involving journalists affect media outlets? Fortune’s Susie Gharib and Time's Ben Goldberger discuss.

[ MUSIC ] So these three instances, they're all a little bit different but yet Ben there is a commonality through all of them, what is it? Well it's all about the erosion of credibility among public figures. Even though Bob Mcdonald is not in anyway a media personality in each case these are three people who held a position of some degree of public trust and were exposed. And Suzie there is a little bit of a business angle here as well. When you are NBC or FOX and you have all your cards invested in building up these brands, these talents into franchises of their own. That's really a high risk when, you know, one person can just kind of crumble in terms of reputation. Is it not? Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, you, there is millions at stake here. Especially in the case of the Brian Williams situation. And I was talking to someone about this in the public relations crisis management business and saying, you know, when does it really impact the bottom line? And he said, there has to be some kind of quantifiable damage. So when you look at some crises like. The NFL with that whole domestic abuse, you know, domestic violence. People still went to football games. So there was no impact on their business. But in the case of NBC if you look at the ratings it's the last I looked, they're down. So advertisers, that's gonna impact what advertisers are willing to pay. And again highlighting the differences because in Bill O'Reilly's case I think people saw him more as a. Professional provocateur, not someone who needs to be earning our trust so much like Brian Williams. That's a critical point, I mean Brian Williams' brand and NBC News' brand is really predicated on the perception of credibility. That Brian News is tru -, Brian Williams is trustworthy. He can tell it exactly like it is, without fear or favor. Bill O'Reilly isn't that. He really exists in opposition. And in many cases, his and Fox News' favorite opposition is the mainstream media. This plays directly into that. And he's fighting back. Right. I think also part of this, part of this, Lee, is that. You know, was it a sustained campaign, that you were misleading people? Or was it just a stupid mistake? And I think in the case of Brian Williams, the question is was he perpetuating this you know, misunderstanding about his background? In the case of Bob McDonald it was, maybe it was just a stupid mistake. Mm- hm. You know he was a [ INAUDIBLE ] he was being trained in the Army Rangers and it just slipped out in a quick conversation. It was not a campaign. The public does make a difference on issues like that. Right, and the White House is standing by Bob McDonald as, as has the DA. But, Right he's in an interesting place too because if you recall. I mean, he, investors sort of voted him out of P & G, and here he has this chance to redeem himself Yes as the head of the VA which is a mess to begin with. And, and this kind of flub, it just doesn't bode well. I mean, it, it seems like we're moving on beyond it. But I always remember Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway's advice on this during the Salomon Brothers scandal way back in the 1990's. And he always. Always advise his employees, whatever action you take whatever you say just remember it could be reported in your town newspaper for all your friends and family to see. So, you know, make a mistake, about the business, I'll excuse you. But make a mistake on your reputation I'll be ruthless. I think that's a good rule to live by for all of these people in very responsible situations. Whether you're running a publicly traded company or you're a, a political figure in Washington. Exactly and then all the more so in this era of social media where it's number one easier to find these incidences, everything's recorded. It's easier to fact check things and it's much easier, of course, to amplify things. Things spread like lightning. So, is that, did that, that certainly happened here. Oh, absolutely. I mean, in the case of Brian Williams, it was directly culpable because the stars and stripes story that exposed the mis- truth was fueled by a tip from comments on the Facebook feed of the NBC story. But in every case, it's a matter of just how quickly social media can add fuel to a fire. It can take years to build a reputation and just seconds to destroy it. Never more so than in the age of social media. And you know, for those of us who grew in traditional media, you know, Time and Fortune, is that we were always taught that you have to check and double- check and have triple sources. Yeah. Before you said, before you said anything. And to find out was this accusation legitimate or not legitimate. Today, nobody's operating by that. This citizen journalism, I like to call it. Is, as long as it is on Facebook or Twitter, it's considered fact. Absolutely, and, and another point about the citizen journalism that I wonder is, are we losing trust? In an era where. Social media makes everyone think they're a journalist and so is this kind of old fashioned one to millions broadcast is that moving on the way out the door is that you know these well dressed anchors in their chairs like Walter Cronkite now we can all spread news and so is there a lack of interest or a lack of trust to begin with the with the platform anymore. Well I don't know if its a lack of trust but there's certainly declining interest. Interest. I mean the numbers simply don't lie, and viewership has been plummeting, not just for the nightly newscast but also for the Sunday shows. NBC has been desperately trying to retain viewers. Today, Meet the Press on Sunday. And that's why this was such a blow, because in Brian Williams they had a figure who, at least for that remaining audience, exemplified what a traditional anchorman was always supposed to be. It's going to be very interesting to see what NBC does next. I mean right now. They, they have an investigation pending. They have suspended Brian Williams. But after the six months what are they going to do? And what makes business sense and what makes also sense for what the viewing public wants? And in their credit well do you think they're handling it the right way Ben? Well, I mean they were slow to respond and play catch up. I think that one of the big problems here is that Brian was not just the host, he was the managing editor. And there was those couple of days, in which, I don't think anyone seemed to fully understand the gravity of what was happening. I don't quite know what's playing out behind the scenes or if he will be able to return and ever reclaim that seat with that credibility that he once had. You know, there is no one size fits all of what your suppose to do in crisis management. And back to that crisis management expert I was talking to. I said, you know, what are you suppose to do? He says. There is no playbook. It depends on every single case. So what you do for Target and what you do for NBC, is completely, completely different. Although he did think that NBC was taking the middle ground and going about it the right way. And, you know, the public always likes to give people a second chance, so. Yeah. That's very true, and I think Bob McDonald actually, to his credit, he came right out, and he said, I did this wrong. I have no excuse. I mean, immediately he apologized and said, he literally said, I have no excuse for this. So. It's always good to be transparent, isn't it? [ LAUGH ] [ LAUGH ] And immediately, yeah.

Brian Williams, Bill O'Reilly, and the age of social media scandals

How do scandals involving journalists affect media outlets? Fortune’s Susie Gharib and Time's Ben Goldberger discuss.