‘I could not stand the way Brian was dressed’

Brian Williams spent two minutes at the end of tonight’s NBC Nightly News broadcast reading viewer email on a number of issues, not the least of which was the Iraq war. But the last one was the most memorable: “I like listening to Brian, but last night I actually switched to ABC News because I could not stand the way Brian was dressed. WHY does it have to be that way?” Williams responds, “Well, sir, you may force me to call that nice fellow over at ABC to see where he buys his stuff. Please, all of you, keep watching and please keep writing us.” Kudos to NBC News for investing that much time reading viewer email, especially the ones that are critical of the news organization’s coverage. Meanwhile, CBS News plans to add a segment called “Free Speech” with viewer commentary when Katie Couric debuts in September. It’s refreshing to see all this newfound transparency on the air, fueled by the openness of the internet.