As he prepares to return to TV later this month following a six-month suspension for embellishing his reporting experiences, Brian Williams should keep one thing in mind: Consumers have woefully short memories. It’s the ace in the hole for any celebrity or public figure whose reputation has taken a severe hit and now wants to rehabilitate his or her image.
In one of the biggest PR debacles of the year (so far) Williams lost his gig as NBC News anchor after it was revealed that he lied about his reporting from the war in Iraq.
Now—in yet another example of how utterly wrong F. Scott Fitzgerald was when he claimed “there are no second acts in American lives”—Williams is set to return to MSNBC on Sept. 22, according to several reports. He'll anchor live breaking news that day, which is expected to include coverage of the U.S. visit of Pope Francis.
The move to MSNBC comes amid several recent programming changes at the network, as it tries to gain on perennial cable news leader Fox News Channel.
MSNBC is expected to announce its 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. lineup soon and Williams will not have a dedicated hour on the schedule, say network executives, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Rather, he'll work on various afternoon programs as news warrants. But don’t be shocked if Williams starts to get increasing face time on the network. After all, despite the scandal, he is a seasoned news anchor conditioned to working in the big league while MSNBC is considered something of a news farm system.
In February, Williams was suspended for six months without pay after soldiers revealed that his account of being on a Chinook helicopter that went down during the U.S. invasion of Iraq was not true.
During the spring rumors swirled that Williams would return to the NBC News anchor chair but in June Lester Holt was named the permanent anchor. Now the eyes of the media world shift to Williams, at least temporarily, to see the start of his second act.
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