To see three nationally well-respected leaders in the field vanish in a week’s time has left many in the news business shaken. Williams deserves the least sympathy; he caused his own unpaid suspension by repeatedly distorting and exaggerating key facts about a story he helped report over a decade ago, a breach that calls into question the level of quality control at a network that made him the face of news to 9 million nightly viewers.
By contrast, the loss of Simon and Carr is an unmitigated tragedy.
Simon, killed in a car accident, won dozens of Emmy awards and famously put his life on the line in 1991, when the forces of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein held him and his news crew captive for 40 days, during which they were blindfolded, beaten and threatened with death.
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