Saturday, February 14, 2015

Lyin' Brian

I really struggled this past week with the incident involving NBC reporter Brian Williams telling a lie while on a TV talk show. Everybody lies. But I still think it was so wrong for Williams, a journalist of some renown, to do it so publicly. He didn't just lie, he made up a whole story about being attacked by jihadists. What makes it so wrong is the fact he is a journalist. If it was a sports guy or an actor, he might get away with it. But when your job is to tell people what is going on in their city or country, you have to tell the absolute truth. Everytime. Without exception. I cannot tell you how many times we have sat back on a story because we were not able to confirm a detail or a fact. If you're in doubt, the story is pulled out.  Otherwise, people will lose faith in what we are reporting.
Even in small towns, journos live interesting lives and they see and do some pretty interesting things. There is no need to make stuff up. I am fond of telling crazy stories to my younger newsie friends, and they are often amazed at the weird and unusual things that  have happened.
I also struggled this week with a really nasty chest and sinus cold. Yeah, so I am a big baby whiner. But the thing is, I have to work out in the public and it is so annoying when you're talking to somebody and suddenly your nose starts running and running and it's so bad the salty mucus runs into your mouth, like when you were a four-year-old. I am now in the habit of carrying pockets full of Kleenex everywhere.
The other thing is that eating is such a boring chore. For the past week, my taste buds have shut down. I had a glass of whiskey on Monday, but that was it. I could barely taste it. So that was a waste.
Regardless, all week I forced myself to eat just to keep my strength up. On Wednesday, I tried some Szechuan noodles for supper. It was filling, but I don't know if it tasted good or not. I did have one of those lime-flavoured Budweiser beers. It seemed okay. I could taste the lime! Oh, almost forgot. On Monday I had Lipton chicken noodle soup. Yes! It was good. Three cheers for Lipton soup!

2 comments:

Debra said...

1. John Stewart had the best reaction to Brian Williams being put on a 6 month leave.
2. Use a Nettie Pot to clear your sinuses. It is like swimming and getting some water in your nose...but it doesn't hurt.
3. Crack an egg into Lipton Noodle Soup. It makes it more nutritious and it still tastes great.

Len said...

Deb, thanks!