Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist at NBC News, currently serving as the chief anchor for the network's cable news channel MSNBC and as host of the network's nightly wrap-up program, The 11th Hour with Brian Williams.[1][2] Williams is known for his ten years as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network. After Williams joined the program in December 2004,[3] NBC News was awarded the Peabody Award for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and Williams accepted the award on behalf of the organization.[4] In February 2015, Williams was suspended for six months from his position as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for"misrepresent[ing] events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003",[5] and on June 18, 2015 he was demoted to breaking news anchor for MSNBC.[6]