I read the article; they refer to Williams as struggling with his compadres at NBC “new” due to his lack of a college degree and a supposed “blue collar background”. I believe he is from Middletown, NJ which is quite wealthy and not blue collar in the slightest. And I also seem to remember that his father was the head of some large industry group, which would be the first blue collar group executive that I’ve heard of. They also make a big deal in the article about the impressive Deborah Turness, the Brit head of NBC News and how she was the only newsperson invited as a guest to the Queen’s dinner for Obama. Well, she and her “news” staff have been toadying up to this White House for years, it is hardly a tough invite for her to get.
Among the more interesting factoids about Williams: He attended three colleges, yet accumulated only 18 hours of credit. It takes real effort to achieve an academic record that bad; either BriWi is a very dim bulb (quite possible), or he spent his college days partying, or both.
Without a college degree, he landed his first TV job in Pittsburg, Kansas and was fired less than a year later. But somehow, his next position was as a White House intern under Jimmy Carter. Very few “blue collar” families can get their ‘ner-do-well son onto the White House staff.
From there, the TV news failure lands a job with WTTG in Washington, the leading independent station in that market. Then, he convinces the female news director to tutor him as an on-air talent and within five years, the guy who got canned in market #149 is anchoring Panorama, WTTG’s flagship news/talk program.
As my FReeper handle indicates, I spent some time in the broadcast news business before gravitating to the military and launching a real career. The odds of seguing from a failed TV news gig to the White House are incredibly long, and persuading a news director in a Top 10 market to tutor you are decidedly slim as well. By the time you reach a market at that level, you’re expect to be a polished performer. Even in the early 80s, most news directors would laugh at a request to train one of their production techs to become an anchor.
Twelve years after joining WTTG, he was at NBC News and being groomed as Brokaw’s successor. Saying he has led a charmed life (until now) would be an understatement, and it’s not the kind of meteoric rise that most blue-collar kids can make, especially when your credentials are as skimpy as those of Brian Williams. Make no mistake: lots of kids have risen from humble circumstances to the top of their profession, but the vast majority worked a lot harder than Brian Williams.