Brian Williams and current host Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show January 16, 2015. Photo: Douglas Gorenstein/NBC 
 
 Forty seven minutes after the Nightly News — without Brian Williams — ended its broadcast tonight, NBC News president Deborah Turness issued the verdict on the embattled anchor’s fate: Williams is being suspended for six months without pay. The announcement capped a chaotic week for Williams. Earlier this morning, Williams and his agent met with NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke and were presented with a dossier of Williams’s apparent lies, according to sources. At 30 Rock, Comcast executives huddled in emergency meetings throughout the day. Williams himself was only slowly grasping the depths of the mess he’d created. “He’s in denial,” a source said. 
 
 One can only imagine that Williams was wishing his anchor escape plan had worked out and that he was the host of The Tonight Show right now. According to two NBC insiders, when the network decided to move on from Jay Leno a few years ago, Williams lobbied NBC executives to give him the host’s chair. “Brian wants to be a late-night comedian,” one former colleague explained. “He traded on being Nightly News anchorman-war-reporter to ingratiate himself with Jimmy, Lorne Michaels, and Jon Stewart.” 
 
 Now, of course, he’s become the subject of jokes rather than the one telling them. The meeting with Burke was part of NBC’s effort to resolve the metastasizing crisis. According to sources, the network was considering a range of options that involved cutting him loose, a lengthy suspension, or a detailed on-air mea culpa. One high-placed source told me this afternoon, correctly, that Williams was likely to face a “severe punishment” but will hang on. Indeed, Burke called Williams’s fictions “inexcusable” and the punishment “severe.” Williams’s lawyer, Bob Barnett, did not return a call or email seeking comment. 
 
 While the speed of Williams’s crash has stunned NBC staffers — “the cannibalism that’s going on here is so ferocious,” one told me — many people inside NBC News knew about Williams’s tendency to exaggerate the now-infamous helicopter ride in Iraq. “He was never a field reporter. He was incredibly insecure about it,” one former NBC News staffer said, speculating about why the anchor felt the need to exaggerate. 
 
 As word of Williams’s habit of embellishing spread through the network over the last decade, powerful voices tried to stop him. According to sources, former NBC News president Steve Capus and Tom Brokaw implored Williams to stick to the facts. “A lot of people, including Tom Brokaw, all said, ‘Let’s be careful here,’” one person with knowledge of the conversations told me. Capus left NBC in February 2013. One month later, Williams made his pivotal appearance on David Letterman’s show, where he revived the now-discredited Iraq story. “This is similar to Dan Rather in the ’80s,” one former NBC executive told me. “There’s no checks and balances. Brian has so much power.” Williams’s embattled boss, Deborah Turness, has struggled to gain control of the news division. 
 
 Some colleagues said Williams seems to have changed in recent years as his fame grew. “You can’t escape Brian Williams. He’s showing up in prime time,” another former colleague says. “He’s hosting SNL, his daughter is Peter Pan, she’s on HBO.” 
 
 This likely won’t be the end of Williams’s troubles. The network announced today that Richard Esposito, the senior producer conducting the fact-checking investigation of Williams’s statements, will continue his inquiry. The fact that NBC lawyers are said to be reviewing the list of Williams’s fictions is an ominous sign. Another source told me today that NBC has widened their probe to include Williams’s expense accounts. In the meantime, NBC executives will be poring over Lester Holt’s ratings data to gauge his strength as a possible full-time replacement. 
 
 But for now, NBC is reluctant to drop Williams. This is clearly a business calculation: Williams has been the face of the news division since replacing Tom Brokaw in 2004. In December 2014, NBC signed him to a reported five-year, $50 million deal. “He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him,” Burke said in his statement. “Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone’s trust.” But NBC News staffers are said to be angry at the decision, which many feel is a slap on the wrist. Some wonder how he can ever return. “How does he ever sit down with Rand Paul or Chris Christie and say, ‘You said this two years ago, and you said this last week.’” one longtime staffer told me. “How does he do that?” 
 
 This post has been updated throughout. ||||| Brian Williams in Southern California last September. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters) 
 
 Following a brief but apparently intense internal “fact-checking inquiry” — a.k.a. investigation — NBC News has decided to suspend its managing editor, and “NBC Nightly News” anchor, Brian Williams for six months without pay. The firm and quick action squares with earlier reports that the network was looking to take care of the crisis over Williams’s credibility, which started nearly a week ago, in short order. 
 
 In announcing the discipline, NBC News President Deborah Turness wrote, “While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position. In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field.” 
 
 In a separate statement on the decision, Steve Burke, the chief executive of NBCUniversal, pronounced himself happy with the penalty: “By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate.” 
 
 There is credit to be accorded here. NBC News clearly took this matter seriously and has scrambled to figure out the depth of the problem. Pretty deep, it appears. And putting your anchor on a six-month suspension is a drastic move for an industry as competitive as network news. Williams’s absence will carry uncertain implications for the standing of “NBC Nightly News” in the ratings. Although there is absolutely no good way to handle revelations that your franchise anchor has been embellishing his reportorial adventures for years, there are many worse ways, too. 
 
 Yet once again, corporate America has shown its staid limitations when handling misconduct among its ranks. Suspensions accomplish a great deal for an organization, including demoralizing the scofflaw, providing temporary and ill-begotten promotions for the fill-ins (how great does Lester Holt feel to be occupying the anchor chair under these circumstances?) and, most important, doing nothing to address or undo the underlying causes of the problem to begin with. 
 
 That last one is where this Williams punishment produces questions: So the guy’s on ice now — does that mean that he won’t be giving his viewers an immediate, complete account of how his transgressions? Will he provide such a mea culpa from his home office while on suspension? Will he do that upon his reentry? 
 
 We put that question to NBC News and didn’t receive an immediate response. 
 
 Independent of Williams’s activities, how will NBC News roll? Will it show its work, as any good math teacher requires? Its quiet protestations that it was never running an investigation of Williams suggest that it’ll be releasing no report, no findings. University of Maryland journalism professor Mark Feldstein chimes in via e-mail: “Is NBC going to issue a public report with its results? Will the network tell the public how many people its investigators interviewed? Was the focus limited to just the one admitted lie or did it include the other allegations of false reporting? These are pretty critical questions to be answered if Williams is really going to return to the air in six months.” 
 
 The actual purpose of suspensions inheres in PR: They reassure an organization’s leaders that they’re being tough, that the wrongdoer isn’t getting off easy. Burke’s comment about the suspension’s “severe” nature speaks to this dynamic — that’s what NBC leadership wants people to take away from the moment. 
 
 Trouble is, the suspension will do little else. Williams will disappear for a spell, even as he’s “committed to winning back everyone’s trust.” Unexplained is how he intends to do that from the beach. 
 
 Full memo: 
 
 All, We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately. We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News. Our review, which is being led by Richard Esposito working closely with NBCUniversal General Counsel Kim Harris, is ongoing, but I think it is important to take you through our thought process in coming to this decision. While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position. In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field. As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times. Steve Burke, Pat Fili and I came to this decision together. We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work Brian has done and the special relationship he has forged with our viewers over 22 years. Millions of Americans have turned to him every day, and he has been an important and well-respected part of our organization. As I’m sure you understand, this was a very hard decision. Certainly there will be those who disagree. But we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action. This has been a difficult time. But NBC News is bigger than this moment. You work so hard and dedicate yourselves each and every day to the important work of bringing trusted, credible news to our audience. Because of you, your loyalty, your dedication, NBC News is an organization we can – and should – all be proud of. We will get through this together. Steve Burke asked me to share the following message. “This has been a painful period for all concerned and we appreciate your patience while we gathered the available facts. By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate. Brian’s life’s work is delivering the news. I know Brian loves his country, NBC News and his colleagues. He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him. Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone’s trust.” Deborah ||||| NBC Universal tried to save Brian Williams’ job last night—and that’s why he was suspended for six months. 
 
 The company finally had to stop the bleeding, to halt the hemorrhaging of its own credibility along with that of its franchise player. 
 
 The brass slowly came to realize that Williams had to be punished, and significantly, for the sin of fabricating a story about his 2003 trip to Iraq. The betting is that with Lester Holt handling “Nightly News” for six months, things will cool off—the country will have moved on to some other outrage—and Williams will be able to return to the chair. 
 
 But that will also require a complete accounting by Williams of what he did wrong—in Iraq, in New Orleans, perhaps on other stories—and a full-throated apology that shows he understands the magnitude of his misconduct. 
 
 The note yesterday from Steve Burke, installed by Comcast as the head of NBC Universal, shows that this matter was decided at the highest reaches of the company. That’s how important Williams is to the network—not just for the 9 million viewers he drew to his newscast, but as a high-wattage spokesman and sometimes entertainer. 
 
 NBC News President Deborah Turness said that Williams’ Iraq tale was “was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position.” But the harsher words came from Burke: 
 
 “By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate.” 
 
 But then there was this: “He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him.” 
 
 NBC has so much invested in Williams that it wants to rehabilitate him—but is also buying time to line up a successor in case that proves impossible. 
 
 Despite the chatter about Matt Lauer or Savannah Guthrie, it would be difficult for NBC to take either one off “Today,” because morning shows are far more lucrative than evening newscasts. 
 
 NBC is also trying to recover from its own botched handling of the crisis. First, its executives allowed Williams to go on air with a lame and inaccurate apology that only inflamed his critics. Second, the brass let him announce that as managing editor he was taking himself off the broadcast for a short period—as if he didn’t report to anyone else. 
 
 In the end, NBC had little choice. While weighing Williams’ career against the self-inflicted damage, it is now trying to split the difference. The challenge for the network and its sidelined anchor is to regain the trust of the audience—if that is still possible. 
 
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– Now that Brian Williams has been suspended for six months from NBC Nightly News, analysts are asking the question: What's next? Will we ever see Williams return to his anchor role? Some are casting doubt on whether he can—and should—come back: In the Washington Post, Ruth Marcus notes that questions have surrounded "whether the network could 'afford' to lose its most recognizable franchise. This is the network version of 'too big to fail'—that Williams is too important to can," she notes. "I see it the opposite way: Williams’s elevated status subjects him to a higher standard of behavior, and more rigorous consequences. The face of NBC News cannot afford to be so scarred." Also in the Post, Erik Wemple wonders how Williams can possibly use a six-month suspension to rehabilitate his image. "Once again, corporate America has shown its staid limitations when handling misconduct among its ranks … doing nothing to address or undo the underlying causes of the problem to begin with." It's all about PR, Wemple notes. Meanwhile, "Williams will disappear for a spell, even as he’s 'committed to winning back everyone’s trust.' Unexplained is how he intends to do that from the beach." Howard Kurtz offers an answer to that question at Fox News: "The betting is that with Lester Holt handling Nightly News for six months, things will cool off—the country will have moved on to some other outrage—and Williams will be able to return to the chair … NBC has so much invested in Williams that it wants to rehabilitate him—but is also buying time to line up a successor in case that proves impossible." Maybe he would have been better off with his dream job. As Gabriel Sherman writes in New York magazine: "One can only imagine that Williams was wishing his anchor escape plan had worked out and that he was the host of The Tonight Show right now." NBC insiders said Williams had lobbied NBC for Jay Leno's chair. "Brian wants to be a late-night comedian," one former colleague said at the time. "Now, of course," writes Sherman, "he’s become the subject of jokes rather than the one telling them."