As fellow journalists distributing news, we are disappointed to follow the story of NBC “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams. 

NBC announced Tuesday it was suspending the long-time anchor for six months following his false claims about an experience he had during the Iraq War. The decision came less than a week after Williams apologized for saying on the air that he was in a helicopter hit by a grenade in 2003. The truth was he was in a group of helicopters and another was hit.

Williams initially told the war story on David Letterman’s talk show two years ago and then on “Nightly News” on Jan. 30. There’s question as to whether he did the same thing in other venues.

NBC executives called his actions inexcusable because it jeopardized the trust he had built up with viewers in the last decade, but at the same time said he deserved a second chance.

We ask, “Why?”

One of journalism’s primary goals is to deliver truth to the public. As journalists, we seek truth and report it and do whatever we can to make sure the information we are dispersing is accurate.

Now that Williams has confessed to misleading the public about this story, it makes people question if there were any other inaccuracies or embellishments in other stories he shared. It leaves a bad mark not only on him, but on the rest of the journalism industry.

As journalists we expect others to abide by high conduct, and he should have been doing the same.

Will Williams be able to regain the trust of his viewers?

Only time will tell.