美國著名新聞主播威廉姆斯因誇大事實遭停職

Brian Williams, the embattled NBC news anchor whose credibility plummeted after he acknowledged exaggerating his role in a helicopter incident in Iraq, was suspended for six months without pay, the network said Tuesday night.

NBC電視臺週二晚間表示，陷入爭議的NBC新聞主播布萊恩·威廉姆斯(Brian Williams)將被無薪停職六個月。威廉姆斯承認他誇大了自己在伊拉克一起直升機事故中的角色，因而其公信力一落千丈。

“This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian's position,” Deborah Turness, the president of NBC News, said in a memo. Lester Holt will continue to substitute for Williams, the network said.

NBC新聞頻道(NBC News)總裁黛博拉·特尼斯(Deborah Turness)在一份備忘錄中表示，“對於處在布萊恩這種地位的人，這是一種錯誤的、非常不妥的行爲。”該電視臺表示，萊斯特·霍爾特(Lester Holt)將繼續代替威廉姆斯擔任主播。

His departure culminated a rapid and startling fall for Williams, who at age 55 was not only the head of the No. 1 evening news show, but also one of NBC's biggest stars, a frequent celebrity guest on “Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock,” and the late-night talk show circuit.

威廉姆斯的聲譽以驚人的速度跌落，最後以他的離職告終。55歲的威廉姆斯不僅是排名第一的晚間新聞節目的招牌，還是NBC電視臺的巨星之一。他經常擔任《週六夜現場》(Saturday Night Live)、《我爲喜劇狂》(30 Rock)以及深夜脫口秀節目的明星嘉賓。

Williams has been drawing 9.3 million viewers a night, and his position seemed unassailable. Even as the stature of the nightly newscast faded in the face of real-time digital news, Williams was one of the most trusted names in America and commanded the respect accorded predecessors like Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings. But his embellishment of his helicopter journey and questions about his other reporting undermined the trust viewers placed in him.

威廉姆斯在晚間能夠吸引930萬名觀衆收視，他的地位似乎不可撼動。儘管面臨實時數字新聞的威脅，晚間新聞節目的地位有所衰退，威廉姆斯在美國仍然是最受信賴的人之一，他還贏得了沃爾特·克朗凱特(Walter Cronkite)、湯姆·布羅考(Tom Brokaw)、彼得·詹寧斯(Peter Jennings)等前輩的尊重。但他誇大直升機之旅的行爲，以及有關他的其他報道的問題，破壞了觀衆寄予他的信任。

In the six days since he admitted his mistake, he was pilloried relentlessly online, with Twitter feeds mocking him and amateur truth squads investigating his past reporting. Almost none of his peers in the news business came to his support.

在他承認錯誤後的六天時間裏，他在網上遭到了無情嘲笑，Twitter用戶紛紛嘲諷，熱衷探究真相的網友則調查了他過去的報道。幾乎沒有哪個新聞界同仁站出來支持他。

Six months is a long time to disappear from the television landscape, and analysts said it would be difficult for him to re-establish himself as a credible nightly presence.

從電視上消失六個月是一段相當長的時間，分析人士表示，他很難再樹立起值得信賴的晚間新聞主持人形象了。

“I don't know how he can ever read the news with a straight face, or how the public will respond if he does,” said Mark Feldstein, a broadcast journalism professor at the University of Maryland. On the other hand, he added, “Maybe they're hoping that with a six-month cooling-off period, he's got a loyal fan base.”

“我不知道他怎樣才能再一臉嚴肅地播報新聞，也不知道觀衆看到這副樣子會作何反應，”馬里蘭大學(University of Maryland)廣播電視新聞學教授馬克·費爾德斯坦(Mark Feldstein)說。他還表示，另一方面，“或許他們希望經過六個月的冷卻期後，他會得到一羣忠實的粉絲。”

At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Williams went to the Upper West Side apartment of Stephen P. Burke, the chief executive of NBCUniversal. Only the two men were present, according to a person briefed on the meeting, and Burke informed Williams that he had decided to suspend him. “NBC Nightly News” staff learned about it in a meeting after the evening broadcast.

週二上午11點，威廉姆斯走出了NBC環球公司(NBCUniversal)首席執行官斯蒂芬·P·伯克(Stephen P. Burke)位於上西城的公寓。據一名知情人士透露，當時只有他們兩人在場，伯克通知威廉姆斯，他已經決定對他做出停職處罰。《NBC晚間新聞》(NBC Nightly News)的工作人員在晚間播報結束後召開的會議上得知了此事。

“By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News,” Burke said in a statement. “His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate.”

“布萊恩的行動破壞了數百萬美國人給予NBC新聞頻道的信任，”伯克發表聲明稱。“他的行爲不可原諒，停職是一個嚴厲且恰當的處罰。”

For NBC, the suspension provides at least a temporary solution to the crisis that has engulfed the network since Williams admitted last week that he had misled the public with the helicopter story. The incident has called into question not only the credibility of Williams but also the ethics and culture at NBC News. It is not clear whether other people at NBC were aware of Williams' version of events.

對於NBC來說，停職決定至少提供了一個應對危機的臨時解決方案，威廉姆斯上週承認他在有關直升機的報道中誤導了公衆，NBC因此陷入危機。該事件不僅使威廉姆斯的可信度受到了質疑，也讓NBC新聞頻道的操守和文化受到了質疑。目前尚不清楚，NBC電視臺的其他人是否瞭解威廉姆斯描述的事件。

Burke said that Williams “has shared his deep remorse with me, and he is committed to winning back everyone's trust.”

伯克說，威廉姆斯“向我表達了深深的懊悔，他決心要重新贏得大家的信任”。

“He deserves a second chance, and we are rooting for him,” Burke said.

伯克說，“他應該得到第二次機會，我們支持他。”

Turness said in a memo to NBC News staff that executives decided to suspend Williams because he misrepresented the Iraq incident on the “Nightly News” broadcast. She said that executives also were concerned about the way he portrayed his reporting away from his newscasts. That includes his descriptions of reporting on Hurricane Katrina as well as other stories.

特尼斯在一份發給NBC新聞頻道工作人員的備忘錄中說，管理層決定讓威廉姆斯停職，是因爲他在《晚間新聞》的節目中錯誤表述了伊拉克的事件。她說，管理層還對他偏離自己的新聞報道，講述報道過程的做法感到擔心，包括他對“卡特里娜”颶風(Hurricane Katrina)和其他事件的報道的描述。

“We have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field,” she said.

她說，“在布萊恩講述自己在現場的經歷時，NBC新聞頻道之外對此的評論也讓我們感到擔心。”

On Saturday, three days after his apology, Williams announced he was temporarily stepping aside from his show because he had become “too much a part of the news.” A day earlier, NBC started an investigation into Williams and his reporting about Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and any other news event that it deemed necessary to review. That investigation is ongoing.

週六，威廉姆斯在道歉三天後宣佈，他要暫時離開自己的節目，因爲他對“新聞進行了過多參與”。此前一天，NBC開始調查威廉姆斯，以及他對伊拉克、“卡特里娜”颶風和其他認爲有必要進行覈查的新聞事件的報道。目前調查仍在進行。

“This has been a painful period for all concerned, and we appreciate your patience while we gathered the available facts,” Burke said.

伯克說，“對於所有相關人士，這都是一個痛苦的時期，我們感謝您在我們蒐集事實期間，所表現出的耐心。”

Williams transcended the news division, and had ambitions beyond the anchor chair. About five years ago, as NBC was contemplating who would eventually succeed Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show,” he told top NBC executives that he was interested in becoming a late-night host. They called the idea ridiculous, telling him that he was a journalist, not a comedian, and to stick to the news department, according to two industry executives with knowledge of the discussions.

威廉姆斯的行動超越了新聞部，而且他也有雄心涉獵新聞主播之外的事務。大約五年前，NBC考慮讓誰最終接替傑伊·萊諾(Jay Leno)，擔任《今夜秀》(The Tonight Show)的主持人時，他告訴NBC最高層，他有興趣擔任深夜節目主持人。瞭解相關討論的兩名行業高管稱，NBC高層告訴他，這個想法很荒謬，因爲他是一名記者，不是笑星，而且還讓他繼續留在新聞部。

Williams' downfall began when he appeared at a New York Rangers game with an Iraq veteran in a tribute to a retiring command sergeant major. Williams suggested on his newscast that the sergeant had protected him from a dangerous situation in Iraq, when “the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG,” referring to a rocket-propelled grenade. “Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded and kept alive by an armor mechanized platoon from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry.”

威廉姆斯的隕落，始於他與一名伊拉克老兵一同現身紐約遊騎兵隊(New York Rangers)的一場比賽之時，那次露面是爲了紀念一名退休的參謀軍士長。威廉姆斯在他的新聞節目中表示， 那名軍士長曾在伊拉克的一次危險情況中保護了他。“我們乘坐的直升機被一枚RPG擊中，隨後迫降”，這裏的RPG指的是火箭推進榴彈。“在前方採訪的NBC新聞團隊，因爲美國陸軍第三步師的一個裝甲機械化排而得救，他們將我們包圍起來，使我們活了下來。”

The military publication Stars and Stripes was tipped off that Williams' account was inaccurate and contacted Williams, who admitted that he was not on the helicopter that was forced down. “I would not have chosen to make this mistake,” Williams told Stars and Stripes. “I don't know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another.”

有人向軍方報紙《星條旗報》(Stars and Stripes)爆料稱，威廉姆斯的說法並不準確，於是該報聯繫了威廉姆斯。他承認自己當時不在迫降的直升機上。“我不應該犯這樣一個錯誤，”威廉姆斯告訴《星條旗報》。“我不知道自己的腦子怎麼了，竟然把一架飛機上發生的事，安在另一架飛機上。”

Travis J. Tritten, the Stars and Stripes reporter who broke the story about Williams' exaggeration, said he did not get any satisfaction from seeing Williams suspended. “Like the vets I spoke with,” he wrote in a Twitter post, “I just wanted to set the record straight.”

揭露威廉姆斯誇張說法的《星條旗報》記者特拉維斯·J·特里滕(Travis J. Tritten)說，看到威廉姆斯被停職，他並沒有獲得任何滿足感。“和那些跟我談過話的老兵一樣，”他在Twitter上寫道，“我只是想糾正錯誤。”