From a pure PR standpoint, if Brian Williams, who makes $10 mill/year, I believe, announced that he was voluntarily taking a 20% pay cut..well, he'd be a God inside NBC..encourage/force others to do the same, and the network suits could make him whole by giving him increased perks..
I've come to the conclusion everyone in network news could work for free - actually donate their labor - and it would make no difference. People would still not watch the network news. And without the eyeballs, they won't have advertisers. Without advertisers, they won't have revenue.
First thing I learned when I got into sales 20 years ago - if you can't sell it, there's no need at all of making it...