Credibility, generally, is seen as a dividend of honesty. Tell the truth and, over time, people will come to regard you as a trustworthy person, a reliable source of information.
Given this formula, the emerging consensus that Brian Williams has torpedoed his credibility by falsifying his experience in Iraq is perfectly logical.
But the American tendency to put military service on a pedestal, as a unique and unassailable experience, alters the way credibility can be earned. Williams’s actions are therefore more complex than they might first appear.
Both his questionable account and the reactions to it reveal a great deal about how military service is seen and valued in the American popular imagination.
The military’s special place
Take my own case. I don’t serve in the military, nor do I come from a military family or even know many service members personally.
All of these things are true, but when I confess them at the beginning of a piece about the military, I risk, despite my honesty, being perceived as less than credible.
I believe I am qualified to speak about the Williams scandal because I’ve spent the last 12 years researching and writing about culture, media and war.