Brian Williams, anchor of "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," presented the 138th Landon Lecture Tuesday, May 3, in McCain Auditorium. Williams discussed how increased choice in media consumption has led to more customized media that focus on what individuals want to hear.

Williams said today's consumers can choose to only consume media that present information they agree with, allowing them to avoid information they don't want to hear. But there is so much constant "noise" and "chatter" in media that no one idea can be heard, he said.

He recalled watching nightly newscasts as a child, with much fewer choices for news than the hundreds of outlets in the market today. The Internet also has opened up new avenues to distribute news, he said.

Starting his television career at KOAM-TV station in Pittsburg, Kan., Williams briefly worked as a New Jersey volunteer firefighter and studied at a community college near his hometown. Prior to working at NBC News, he served stations in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York.

At NBC, Williams worked as the chief White House correspondent and the anchor and managing editor of an hour-long newscast on MSNBC. In December 2004, Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as the "Nightly News" anchor.