First, let me clearly state that as an Editor-in-Chief of The Red Ledger I in no way condone the fabrication of news stories. I feel very passionate that news should be presented in a clear and unbiased manner and report actual facts, details and events. However, I continue to support Brian Williams as one of my favorite newscasters despite recent accusations of his ‘embellishment’ of news stories.

For years I have watched and enjoyed Williams report the daily news at 5:30 p.m. every night. I found him reliable and informative. While it disappoints me that NBC is investigating possible fabrication of some of his work, I understand his possible unintended fallacies. Though he is nice and seemingly intelligent, Brian Williams is human.

Despite popular belief, memory is not exact, and does not play back like a movie. In fact, studies show that memories can be easily altered or even created on accident. This is called memory reconstruction. For instance, the major allegation against Williams is that he claimed that his helicopter was shot at while reporting in Iraq 12 years ago. However, new reports show that another helicopter traveling with his was shot down, while he landed safely around 30 minutes later.

Some questions one has to wonder before assuming he is a liar is how was he emotionally affected by this event? What reason would he have to lie about this event?  Why was this just now brought to light?

Though I am not a psychologist I know there are a lot of reasons why Williams may have “embellished” this truth. He could have emotional strings connected to this event. What if he wonders what if he was in the other helicopter? Questions as this could have plagued his subconscious so much he really did think he was in the other helicopter. Like I said, there are a million reasons why this misinformation could have happened.

The other finding against the credibility of Williams is that he claimed to have seen a man floating face down in the French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina and it deeply affected him. Again, reporting on site after Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest hurricanes ever, is a very emotionally strenuous experience. Maybe he mistook the location of the body. Even so, this mistake does not make Williams unreliable, much less any less empathetic.

Many argue that Williams was embellishing stories for the sake of attention or for a better ‘story’. However, I feel as though an argument that he is an unreliable news source because of this is completely invalid due to the psychology of the situation.

Like I said before, I am no psychologist. And, there are a million what if’s. But, until there is a reason to believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that Williams is purposefully fabricating his stories I will continue to fully support him.