As Media Research Center fairly suggests, “the biggest witness against the exaggerated claims of Brian Williams’ Hurricane Katrina fabulism” may be Williams himself.
Their review of Williams’ regular journal entries during the Hurricane Katrina time frame shows Williams made “no references to a floating body in the French quarter, drinking floodwater, catching dysentery, a five-star hotel hotel overrun by gangs, nor of a dramatic rescue in a stairwell by a young police officer…”
If these now seemingly tall tales were true, let alone an accurate depiction of events, it seems fair to ask why they never made it into his official coverage? Any argument that the news is the news and Williams’ outside statements are another issue doesn’t hold up to scrutiny given the lengths Williams went to in promoting, not just himself, but NBC and their news programming in outside venues.
Furthermore, the diary is an NBC News product, even if it isn’t part of their broadcast.
A detailed analysis of Brian Williams’ Daily Nightly journal entries from August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans until our puppy-rescuing hero was safely out of harm’s way shows no references to a floating body in the French quarter, drinking floodwater, catching dysentery, a five-star hotel hotel overrun by gangs, nor of a dramatic rescue in a stairwell by a young police officer with whom Brian is “friends to this day.” However, Brian’s Daily Nightly journal is chock full of Bush bashing as you can see in his Sept. 2 entry:
A local radio station this morning refused to air the President’s remarks apparently because they didn’t think they would learn anything applicable to their immediate crisis. People were still dying in downtown New Orleans today… the living are urinating and moving their bowels where they stand or sit. A New Orleans cop called into the radio show to say he resented President Bush for the shower he took this morning at the White House.
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