Just as talk of Brian Williams' tall tales and suspension from NBC has died down, allegations that the network TV anchor tailored his reporting to protect President Obama have arisen.
Nick Gillespie of Reason.com cited a magazine report of the Justice Department justifying killing American civilians with drones and another finding the White House knew as early as 2010 that Obamacare would cause many Americans to lose their health-insurance plan.
"Divisive is one term for either of those stories. Critical of President Obama and state power more broadly is another. I think it's actually the latter that is more important and helps to explain part of the evacuation of broadcast news by viewers," Gillespie wrote.
"The stories that Williams passed on … weren't simply divisive, they also demonstrate the abuse of state power and its limits to reshape the world in its image," he said.
Last month, the "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams was suspended for six months without pay for "misrepresenting" events while covering the Iraq War in 2003.
Gillespie's source is a New York Magazine article on the broadcast industry and NBC.
The magazine said some reporters at the network "complained about Williams's unwillingness to go after hard-hitting stories."
Wrote author Gabriel Sherman: "Multiple sources told me that former NBC investigative reporters Michael Isikoff and Lisa Myers battled with Williams over stories. In February 2013 Isikoff failed to interest Williams in a piece about a confidential Justice Department memo that justified killing American citizens with drones. He instead broke the story on Rachel Maddow. That October, Myers couldn't get Williams to air a segment about how the White House knew as far back as 2010 that some people would lose their insurance policies under Obamacare."
The report continued: "Frustrated, Myers posted the article on NBC's website, where it immediately went viral. Williams relented and ran it the next night. 'He didn't want to put stories on the air that would be divisive,' a senior NBC journalist told me."
Newsbusters' P.J. Gladnick wrote: "Did you know that Brian Williams avoided stories that were critical of the Obama administration? So what vicious 'rightwing' organization is making such a claim? Actually this was a charge coming from NBC News reporters themselves in [a] lengthy New York Magazine article."
Gladnick noted "'divisive' here mean[s] stories that don't put the Obama administration in a favorable light."
WND has reported how the suspended news anchor has gone from telling jokes – he's often admired comics – to being the butt of jokes.
During the recent 40th anniversary special of "Saturday Night Live," Williams was mercilessly made fun of by some of the biggest names in comedy.
Jerry Seinfeld said he was surprised by a little-known piece of information about "SNL."
"You know there are so many things about 'Saturday Night Live' that people don't know. For example, one of the original cast members in 1975 was Brian Williams," Seinfeld clowned to rousing laughter. "I don't know if that's true, but I never heard that. It doesn't sound true. It might not be."
Watch Jerry Seinfeld mock Brian Williams:
And with the audience filled with NBC executives, comedian Martin Short alluded to Williams, joking, "You know, the roof, the literal roof could cave in on this show right now, and it would be the least of NBC's problems."
In December, Williams signed a five-year contract with NBC for about $10 million a year.