NBC News

180px The headquarters of NBC News at the GE Building 30 Rockefeller Center.
Division of:	National Broadcasting Company
Key people:	Steve Burke, President & CEO NBCUniversal Steve Capus, President of NBC News Brian Williams, Lead Anchor
Founded:	February 21, 1940
Headquarters:	Studio 3A/B, NBC News News Room GE Building 30 Rockefeller Center Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Major Bureaus:	International Headquarters, Studio 3A/B, NBC News News Room GE Building 30 Rockefeller Center Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States West Coast Headquarters, Burbank, California, United States Governmental Affairs Headquarters, Washington, D.C., United States European Headquarters London, UK Asia Pacific Headquarters Singapore Hong Kong
Area served:	Worldwide
Broadcast programs:	Dateline NBC Early Today Meet the Press NBC Daily Connection NBC Nightly News Today Weekend Today MSNBC
Parent:	NBCUniversal
Website:	msnbc.msn.com
Web Portal:	msn.com
v t e

NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News airs from Studio 3B, located on floor 3 of the NBC Studios in the GE Building, which is located in the Rockefeller Center of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It currently claims the highest ratings for its morning, evening, and Sunday interview programs. Its current president is Steve Capus.

History[link]

Caravan era[link]

The first American television newscast in history was made by NBC News on February 21, 1940, anchored by Lowell Thomas and airing weeknights at 6:45 pm.^[1] In June 1940, NBC, through its flagship station in New York City, W2XBS (renamed commercial WNBT in 1941, now WNBC) operating on channel one, televised thirty and a quarter hours of coverage of the Republican National Convention live and direct from Philadelphia. The station used a series of relays from Philadelphia to New York and on to upper New York State, for re-broadcast on W2XB Schenectady (now WRGB), making this among the first "network" programs of NBC Television. Due to wartime restrictions, there were no live telecasts of the 1944 conventions, although films of the events were reportedly shown over WNBT the next day.

In 1948, NBC teamed up with Life magazine to provide election night coverage of President Harry S. Truman's surprising victory over New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey. The television audience was small, but NBC's share in New York was double that of any other outlet.^[2] The following year, the Camel News Caravan, anchored by John Cameron Swayze, began on NBC. Lacking the graphics and technology of later years, it nonetheless contained many of the elements of modern newscasts.^[3] NBC hired its own film crews and in the program's early years, it dominated CBS's competing program, which did not hire its own film crews until 1953.^[3] (By contrast, CBS spent lavishly on Edward R. Murrow's weekly series, See It Now.^[3]) In 1950, David Brinkley began serving as the program's Washington correspondent but attracted little attention outside the network until paired with Chet Huntley in 1956.^[4] In 1955, the Camel News Caravan fell behind CBS's Douglas Edwards with the News, and Swayze lost the already tepid support of NBC executives.^[3] The following year, NBC replaced the program with the Huntley-Brinkley Report.

Beginning in 1951, NBC News was managed by Bill McAndrew, Director of News, who reported to J. Davidson Taylor, Vice President of News and Public Affairs.^[5]

Huntley-Brinkley era[link]

NBC News had close to 700 correspondents and cameramen in 1961 who were stationed throughout the world. Film was received in the United States by plane or by the jointly operated NBC-BBC transatlantic film cable.

As television assumed an increasingly prominent role in American family life in the late 1950s, NBC News became television's "champion of news coverage."^[6] NBC President Robert Kintner believed that a dominant NBC News could lift his entire network to the top, and he provided the news division with ample amounts of both financial resources and air time.^[3] In 1956, the network paired anchors Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and the two went on to acquire great celebrity.^[4] They were supported by a strong bench of reporters that over time included John Chancellor, Frank McGee, Edwin Newman, Sander Vanocur, Nancy Dickerson, Tom Pettit, and Ray Scherer.

Created by producer Reuven Frank, NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report, anchored by the team of Chet Huntley in New York and David Brinkley in Washington, began in 1956 and soon set the standard for evening news programs. During much of its 14-year run, it exceeded the viewership levels attained by its CBS News competition, anchored initially by Douglas Edwards and, beginning in 1962, by Walter Cronkite.

NBC stood out for its reporting on the civil rights movement. NBC's Vice President of News and Public Affairs, J. Davidson Taylor, was a Southerner who understood the importance of the story, and he and producer Reuven Frank were determined that NBC would lead television's coverage of it.^[7] In 1955, NBC provided national coverage of the young Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership of the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, airing reports from Frank McGee, then news director of WSFA-TV, NBC's Montgomery affiliate, and soon to join the network.^[8] A year later, John Chancellor's coverage of the admission of black students to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas provided the first occasion when the signature reporter on a story came from television rather than print^[8] and prompted a prominent U.S. senator to observe later, "When I think of Little Rock, I think of John Chancellor."^[5] Other reporters who covered the movement for the network included Sander Vanocur, Herbert Kaplow, Charles Quinn, and Richard Valeriani.^[7] Valeriani suffered a serious head injury when hit with an ax handle at a demonstration in Marion, Alabama in 1965.^[9] Perhaps one of the greatest discoveries of the executive team, was Robert "Shad" Northshield as the program's producer. Northshield sat in his office surrounded by mounted birds in front of the enlarged poster his staff had made of George C. Scott as Patton. but he hated violence and saw network news as a way to force the country's collective habd into making better choices. Prior to Northshield, women wore baby seal coats as a sign of status, so Shad showed the country what clubbing those baby seals looked like. Within a season, that market came to an end. Northshield always thought the relatively unwatched CBS Morning news was the "best damn news show on the air". And so when Huntly/Brinkley ended he allowed Bill Paley to woo him over in order to create and produce the weekly eleagnce of that network's; "Sunday Morning" originally hosted by Charles Kurault, now hosted by Charles Osgood. The ending moment of nature was the program's weekly tribute to the rough-hewened man who created much of the best quality news division programming ever seen.. After being aired free of sponsorship for decades, it became first sponsored, then abruptly ended without notice.

While CBS's Walter Cronkite's fascination with space eventually won the anchorman viewers, NBC, with the work of correspondents such as Frank McGee, Roy Neal, Jay Barbree, and Peter Hackes, also distinguished itself in the coverage of American manned space missions in the Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and Project Apollo programs. In an era when space missions rated continuous coverage, NBC configured its largest studio, Studio 8H, for space coverage. It utilized models and mockups of rockets and spacecraft, maps of the earth and moon to show orbital trackage, and stages on which animated figures created by puppeteer Bil Baird were used to depict movements of astronauts before on-board spacecraft television cameras were feasible. (Studio 8H had been home to the NBC Symphony Orchestra led by Arturo Toscanini and is now the home of the long-running NBC show, Saturday Night Live.) NBC's coverage of the first moon landing in 1969 earned the network an Emmy Award.^[10]

In the late 1950s, NBC President Robert Kintner reorganized the chain of command at the network, making Bill McAndrew president of NBC News, reporting directly to Kintner.^[5] McAndrew served in that position until his death in 1968.^[5] McAndrew was succeeded by his executive vice president, producer Reuven Frank, who held the position until 1973.^[5]

NBC Nightly News era[link]

NBC's ratings lead began to slip toward the end of the 1960s and fell sharply when Chet Huntley retired in 1970 (Huntley died of cancer in 1974). The loss of Huntley, along with a reluctance by RCA to fund NBC News at a similar level CBS was funding its news division, left NBC News in the doldrums. NBC's primary news show gained its present title, NBC Nightly News, on August 3, 1970.

The network tried a platoon of anchors (Brinkley, McGee, and John Chancellor) during the early months of Nightly News. Despite the efforts of the network's eventual lead anchor, the articulate, even-toned Chancellor, and an occasional first-place finish in the Nielsens, Nightly News in the 1970s was primarily a strong second.^[3] By the end of the decade, NBC had to contend not only with a powerful CBS but also a surging ABC, led by Roone Arledge. Tom Brokaw became sole anchor in 1983, after co-anchoring with Roger Mudd for a year, and began leading NBC's efforts. In 1986 and 1987, NBC won the top spot in the Nielsens for the first time in years,^[11] only to fall back when Nielsen's ratings methodology changed. In late 1996, Nightly News again moved into first place,^[12] a spot it has held onto in most of the succeeding years. The current anchor of Nightly News, Brian Williams, assumed primary anchor duties when Brokaw retired in December 2004.

On October 22, 2007, Nightly News moved into its new high definition studios, at Studio 3C at NBC Studios in 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The network's 24 hour cable network, MSNBC, joined the network in New York on that day as well. The new studios/headquarters for NBC News and MSNBC are now located in one area.

Nine men have served as president of NBC News during this period: Reuven Frank (1968–1973, 1981–85), Richard Wald (1973–1977), Lester M. Crystal (1977–1979), William J. Small (1979–1981), Lawrence Grossman (1985–1988), Michael Gartner (1988–1993), Andrew Lack (1993–2001), Neal Shapiro (2001–2005), and Steve Capus (2005–present).

Current programming[link]

NBC News Washington Bureau

• NBC Nightly News (news anchor by Brian Williams and Lester Holt)
  • NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
  • NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
• Early Today
• Today
• Weekend Today
• Meet the Press with David Gregory
• Dateline NBC
• Rock Center with Brian Williams

Syndicated productions[link]

• The Chris Matthews Show
• Your Total Health

Other productions[link]

NBC News provides content for the Internet, as well as cable-only news networks CNBC and MSNBC.

NBC News Radio[link]

NBC News Radio broadcasts radio news headlines at the top of the hour, which have been distributed since 2004 by Westwood One, an independent radio network and syndicator. Listen to the latest headlines by clicking here (subject to availability).

It is a revival of the original NBC Radio Network, which Westwood One purchased in 1987 as General Electric, which acquired NBC's parent company RCA, divested most properties not pertaining to the NBC television network. NBC Radio's news operation would be merged into the Mutual Broadcasting System, then into Westwood One's then-corporate sibling CBS Radio, and eventually assimilated into the syndicator itself. Initially just a service limited to one-hour reports from 6 a.m to 10 p.m. EST, on March 5, 2012, Dial Global - who had acquired Westwood One - announced NBC News Radio would expand to a full-time 24 hour radio news network, replacing CNN Radio (that itself replaced both NBC Radio and Mutual in 1999).

NBC reporters and correspondents also contribute to the Dial Global-produced, and "NBC Radio"-branded, newsmagazine First Light with Dirk Van, the lone surviving program from the original NBC Radio Network. (Van is also an anchor for NBC News Radio.)

NBC News Overnight/Nightside[link]

In 1982, NBC News began production on NBC News Overnight with anchors Linda Ellerbee, Lloyd Dobyns, and Bill Schechner. That program was cancelled in December 1983, but in 1991, NBC News aired another overnight news show called NBC Nightside. During its run, the show's anchors included Sara James, Bruce Hall, Antonio Mora, Tom Miller, Campbell Brown, Kim Hindrew, Tom Donavan, and Tonya Strong. NBC Nightside lasted until 1998 and was replaced by reruns of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and was the home to Poker After Dark from January 1, 2007 until September 23, 2011. NBC now airs a week-after repeat of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In the early 1990s, NBC News produced a short-lived investigative program called Exposé.

NBC News Channel[link]

NBC News Channel is a news video and report feed service, similar to a wire service, providing pre-produced international, national and regional stories some with fronting reporters customized for NBC network affiliates. It is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and is connected to the studios of Charlotte NBC affiliate WCNC-TV. NBC News Channel also served as the production base of NBC Nightside.

Noted coverage[link]

On November 22, 1963, NBC broke into various programming through affiliate stations at 1:45 p.m. to announce that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas. Eight minutes later, at 1:53:12 p.m., NBC broke into programming with a NBC Network bumper slide and Chet Huntley, Bill Ryan, and Frank McGee informing the viewers what was going on as it happened, but since a camera wasn't in service the reports were audio only. However, NBC didn't begin broadcasting over the air until 1:57 p.m. EST. About 40 minutes later, after word came that JFK was pronounced dead, NBC canceled programming for four days and carried 71 hours of uninterrupted news coverage of the assassination and the funeral of the president.^[13]

NBC News got the first American news interviews from two Russian presidents (Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev), and Brokaw was the only American TV news correspondent to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.^[14]

Controversies[link]

[edit] Dateline NBC General Motors investigation

In 1993, Dateline NBC broadcast an investigative report about the safety of General Motors (GM) trucks. GM discovered the "actual footage" utilized in the broadcast had been rigged by the inclusion of explosive incendiaries attached to the gas tanks and the use of improper sealants for those tanks. GM subsequently filed an anti-defamation lawsuit against NBC, which publicly admitted the results of the tests were rigged and settled the lawsuit with GM on the very same day.^[15] As a result of the controversy, several Dateline producers were fired and NBC News President Michael Gartner was forced out.

Mail from a mass murderer[link]

On April 16, 2007, Cho Seung-hui stormed through a classroom building at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University at Blacksburg, Virginia and randomly shot and killed 32 people, injuring 29 others. Two hours earlier, he had slain two other people at a dormitory in another part of the campus.

Cho took time between the two shooting episodes to prepare and mail a large multimedia package to NBC News in New York containing messages about his anger at the wealthy and alluding to the slaughter that was about to take place. Although the package was sent overnight mail, it was not received until 11 a.m. on April 18 because of Cho's confusion over the zip code of NBC's headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

The package contained a DVD showing video clips of Cho speaking and more than two dozen photos of Cho, including 11 of him thrusting pistols at the camera. A postal worker delivering the parcel to the network's Rockefeller Center offices recognized the sender and alerted NBC security personnel. They immediately reported the package to the FBI. Meanwhile, NBC made copies of the contents and aired carefully edited pieces on its evening news and cable programs. Snippets from the package, including still photos, videos and voice narration, were also made available to competing news outlets who agreed to credit the network as the source. NBC News president Steve Capus defended use of the material but the frequency of its broadcast was cut dramatically.

Editing of George Zimmerman 911 call[link]

On March 27, 2012 NBC News broadcast an edited segment from a 911 call placed by George Zimmerman at the time of the killing of Trayvon Martin. In the NBC segment, Zimmerman says: "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black." However, the unedited tape shows the following conversation:

Zimmerman: "This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about."

911 operator: "Okay. And this guy, is he white, black, or Hispanic?"

Zimmerman: "He looks black."

The editing led a media watchdog organization to accuse NBC News of engaging in "an all-out falsehood." While NBC News initially declined to comment,^[16] the news agency did issue an apology to viewers, but no public apology to Zimmerman:

"During our investigation it became evident that there was an error made in the production process that we deeply regret. We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers."^[17]

The Washington Post called the statement "skimpy on the details on just how the mistake unfolded."^[18]

Current situation[link]

During the financial crisis of 2007-2008, NBC News was urged to save $500 million by NBC Universal. On that occasion, NBC News laid off several of its in-house reporters such as Kevin Corke, Jeannie Ohm and Don Teague. This was the largest lay-off in NBC News history. After the sudden death of the influential moderator Tim Russert of Meet the Press in June 2008, Tom Brokaw took over as an interim host; and on December 14, 2008 David Gregory has become the new moderator of that show.

By 2009, NBC had established leadership in network news, airing the highest-rated morning, evening, and Sunday interview news programs.^[19] Its ability to share costs with MSNBC and share in the cable network's advertising and subscriber revenue made it far more profitable than its network rivals.^[20]

Personnel[link]

Current[link]

• Brian Williams ("NBC Nightly News" Anchor & Managing Editor)
• Lester Holt ("NBC Nightly News" Weekend Anchor, "Weekend Today" Co-Anchor and "Dateline" Anchor)
• Jane Arraf
• Tom Aspell
• Peter Alexander
• Jay Barbree (Cape Canaveral, NBC News Space Correspondent)
• Martin Bashir ("Dateline" Contributing Correspondent, MARTIN BASHIR Anchor)
• Robert Bazell (NBC News Chief Science Correspondent)
• Lynn Berry (Early Today & FIRST LOOK Anchor)
• Tom Brokaw (NBC News Special Correspondent)
• Contessa Brewer (msnbc Live Anchor)
• Christina Brown (NBC News West Coast Correspondent)
• Ned Colt
• Helen Chickering (NBC News Channel Health & Science Correspondent)
• Bob Costas
• Tom Costello
• Ann Curry ("Today" Co-Anchor)
• Giada De Laurentiis
• Bob Dotson ("Today" National Correspondent)
• Rehema Ellis (NBC News Education Correspondent)
• Richard Engel (NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent)
• Martin Fletcher
• Michelle Franzen (NBC News Foregin Correspondent)
• Kathie Lee Gifford ("Today" 4th Hour Co-Anchor)
• David Gregory (Meet the Press Moderator)
• Savannah Guthrie ("Today" 3rd Hour Co-Anchor & NBC News Legal Correspondent)
• Chris Hansen ("Dateline NBC" Correspondent)
• Hoda Kotb ("Today" 4th Hour Co-Anchor & "Dateline NBC" Correspondent)
• Chris Jansing (JANSING & CO Anchor)
• Bill Karins (Meteorologist)
• Michelle Kosinski (NBC News London Correspondent)
• Matt Lauer ("Today" Co-Anchor)
• Lilia Luciano
• Richard Lui (Anchor for MSNBC. Also rotating anchor for weekend "Today" show.)
• Jim Maceda
• Rachel Maddow (The Rachel Maddow Show Anchor & MSNBC Political Analyst)
• Josh Mankiewicz
• Chris Matthews ("Hardball" & "The Chris Matthews Show" Anchor)
• Preston Mendenhall
• Maria Menounos
• Jim Miklaszewski (NBC News Chief Pentagon Correspondent)
• Andrea Mitchell (Andrea Mitchell Reports Anchor & NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent)
• Natalie Morales (TODAY News Anchor, 3rd Hour Co-Anchor & NBC News National Correspondent)
• Keith Morrison ("Dateline NBC" Correspondent)
• Ron Mott
• Dennis Murphy ("Dateline NBC" Correspondent)
• Lisa Myers (NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent)
• Kelly O'Donnell(NBC News Capital Hill Correspondent)
• Michael Okwu
• Roger O'Neil
• Carl Quintanilla ("Squawk Box" Co-Anchor & "Weekend Today" Alternating News Anchor)
• Jeff Ranieri (Meteorologist, currently at NBC O&O KNTV)
• Thomas Roberts (msnbc Live Anchor & NBC News Correspondent)
• Al Roker ("Today" Weather Anchor & 3rd Hour Co-Anchor)
• Luke Russert (NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent)
• Kerry Sanders
• Mara Schiavocampo (NBC News Correspondent)
• Willard Scott
• Harry Smith ("Nightly News" & "Rock Center" Contributing Correspondent)
• Kate Snow ("Dateline NBC" Contributing Correspondent)
• Dr. Nancy Snyderman (NBC News Chief Medical Editor)
• Alison Stewart (MSNBC Substitute Anchor, "Weekend Today" Alternating News Anchor & NBC News Contributor)
• Mike Taibbi
• Chuck Todd (The Daily Rundown Anchor, NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, NBC News Political Director & "Meet the Press Contributing Editor)
• Meredith Vieira ("Rock Center" Contributing Correspondent & NBC News Special Correspondent)
• Ian Williams
• Pete Williams (NBC News Justice Correspondent)
• Jenna Wolfe ("Weekend Today" Sunday Co-Anchor & "Today" Correspondent
• John Yang
• Dylan Ratigan ("The Dylan Ratigan Show" Anchor)

Former[link]

('+' symbol indicates person deceased)

• Elie Abel (State Department Correspondent)+
• Bob Abernethy (Correspondent)
• Dan Abrams (Chief Legal Analyst)
• Martin Agronsky (Foreign Correspondent)+
• Jodi Applegate (Anchor, MSNBC and Weekend Today)
• Jim Avila (Correspondent)
• Kenneth Bernstein+
• Jim Bittermann
• Frank Blair (Today Show News Anchor)+
• David Bloom (Correspondent and Weekend Today)+
• Ken Bode
• Mike Boettcher
• Frank Bourgholtzer+ - first full-time NBC White House correspondent
• David Brinkley+
• Ned Brooks
• Campbell Brown
• Erin Burnett
• David Burrington
• Len Cannon
• Henry Champ
• John Chancellor+
• Connie Chung
• John Cochran
• Katie Couric
• Kevin Corke
• Jim Cummins
• John Dancy
• Faith Daniels
• Lisa Daniels
• Nancy Dickerson+
• Lloyd Dobyns
• Phil Donahue
• Hugh Downs
• Paul Duke+
• Rosey Edeh
• Linda Ellerbee
• Bonnie Erbe
• Giselle Fernandez
• Jack Ford
• Fred Francis
• Eliot Frankel+
• Pauline Frederick
• Dawna Friesen
• Betty Furness+
• Joe Garagiola
• Anne Garrels
• Dave Garroway+
• Alexis Glick
• Robert Goralski+
• Peter Greenberg (Travel Editor, "Today")
• Bryant Gumbel
• Tony Guida
• Peter Hackes+
• Robert Hager
• Welles Hangen+
• Nanette Hansen
• Richard C. Harkness
• Don Harris+
• John Hart
• Jim Hartz
• John Hockenberry
• Chet Huntley+
• Gwen Ifill
• Bob Jamieson
• Mike Jensen
• Kenley Jones
• Bernard Kalb
• Marvin Kalb
• Floyd Kalber+
• Herbert Kaplow
• Arthur Kent
• Douglas Kiker+
• Emery King
• Dan Kloeffler
• Bob Kur
• Jack Lescoulie+
• Irving R. Levine+
• George Lewis
• Cassie Mackin+
• Robert MacNeil
• Boyd Matson
• Robert McCormick+
• Frank McGee+
• Bill Monroe+
• Roger Mudd
• Merrill Mueller
• Roy Neal+
• Ron Nessen
• Jackie Nespral
• Edwin Newman+
• Deborah Norville
• Soledad O'Brien
• Norah O'Donnell (NBC News Washington Correspondent & msnbc Chief Washington Correspondent)
• Jeannie Ohm
• Keith Olbermann (Anchor, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann")
• Don Oliver
• John Palmer
• Jane Pauley
• Jack Paxton+
• Jack Perkins
• Tom Pettit+
• Stone Phillips
• Mark Potter
• Gabe Pressman
• Norma Quarles
• Brigitte Quinn
• Charles Quinn
• Ed Rabel
• Chip Reid
• John Rich
• Amy Robach
• Betty Rollin
• Brian Ross
• Ford Rowan
• Tim Russert+
• Bill Ryan+
• Aline Saarinen+
• Jessica Savitch+
• Chuck Scarborough
• Ray Scherer+
• Mike Schneider
• John Seigenthaler
• Scott Simon
• Gene Shalit
• Claire Shipman
• Maria Shriver
• Shellee Smith (Correspondent)
• Lawrence E. Spivak+
• Carl Stern
• John Cameron Swayze+
• Don Teague
• Patricia Thompson+
• Liz Trotta
• Lem Tucker+
• Garrick Utley
• Richard Valeriani
• Charles Van Doren
• Sander Vanocur
• Linda Vester
• Chris Wallace
• Barbara Walters
• Mary Alice Williams
• Brad Willis
• Joe Witte
• Lew Wood
• Judy Woodruff
• Tony Zappone

International broadcasts[link]

MSNBC is not shown outside the Americas on a channel in its own right. However, both NBC News and MSNBC are shown for a few hours a day on Orbit News in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Orbit News is network of three 24 hour satellite and cable channels offering exclusively American news programming from ABC, NBC, PBS, and MSNBC to U.S. expats and other viewers abroad, primarily geared towards an audience in the Arab countries. The network is available on digital satellite and cable in Europe, Middle East and North Africa, however, cable operators in Europe are currently unable to carry the channels due to unsolved rights issues.

MSNBC is also shown occasionally on sister network CNBC Europe during breaking news. Some NBC News programs are shown in the Philippines on Talktv (formerly aired on 2nd Avenue).

NBC Nightly News, along with the full program lineup of NBC, is carried by affiliate VSB-TV in Bermuda.

The Seven Network in Australia has close ties with NBC and has used a majority of the network's imaging and slogans since the 1970s. Seven News has featured The Mission as its news theme since the mid 1980s. Local newscasts were named Seven Nightly News from the mid 1980s until around 2000. NBC and Seven will often share news recourses between the two countries. NBC News has been know to use Seven News reporters for live crosses on a developing news story in Australia. Seven News will sometimes also incorporate an NBC News Report into its National bulletins. The Today Show, Weekend Today and Meet The Press are all broadcast on the Seven Network between the early hours of 3am-5am, just before their own morning show Sunrise.

In Japan, NBC Nightly News is broadcast live on Fuji Television daily at 06:00–06:30 am. While in Singapore, Nightly News is broadcast live on MediaCorp Channel 5 and MediaCorp HD5 daily at 06:00–06:30 am. In Hong Kong, NBC Nightly News it is aired on TVB Pearl daily at 06:30–07:00 am. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, Nightly News is broadcast live on RCTI daily at 05:30–06:00 am.

Bureaus[link]

Major bureaus[link]

• New York City, New York, USA: NBC News World Headquarters
• Burbank, California, USA: NBC News West Coast Headquarters
• Washington, D. C., USA: NBC News Governmental Affairs Headquarters (Broadcast from WRC-TV)
• London, UK: NBC News Foreign Headquarters

Minor bureaus (within the United States)[link]

• Atlanta, Georgia (WXIA-TV)
• Chicago, Illinois (WMAQ-TV)
• San Francisco, California (KNTV-TV)
• Dallas, Texas (KXAS-TV)
• New Orleans, Louisiana (WDSU-TV)
• Miami, Florida (WTVJ-TV)
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (WCAU-TV)
• Denver, Colorado (KUSA-TV)
• Arlington, Virginia (The Pentagon)
• All NBC owned-and-operated stations are considered NBC News Bureaus:

Foreign bureaus (NBC News/CNBC/MSNBC)[link]

• Johannesburg, South Africa (CNBC Africa headquarters)
• Kabul, Afghanistan (NBC News)
• Nairobi, Kenya (CNBC Africa)
• Abuja, Nigeria (CNBC Africa)
• Lagos, Nigeria (CNBC Africa)
• Cape Town, South Africa (CNBC Africa)
• London, UK (NBC News, CNBC Europe headquarters)
• Singapore (CNBC Asia headquarters)
• Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (CNBC Asia)
• Tokyo, Japan (CNBC Asia)
• Hong Kong (CNBC Asia)
• Beijing, China (NBC News, MSNBC, and CNBC)
• Frankfurt, Germany (CNBC Europe)
• Baghdad, Iraq (MSNBC and CNBC Asia)
• Beiruit, Lebanon (MSNBC and CNBC Asia)
• Jerusalem, Israel (MSNBC and CNBC Asia)
• New Delhi, India (CNBC-TV18)
• Islamabad, Pakistan (CNBC Pakistan)

Theme music[link]

Most of NBC's news television programs use "The Mission" by John Williams as their theme. The composition was first used by NBC in 1985 and was updated in 2004.^[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

• NBC News website
• NBC.com news and sports webpage
• NBC News on Twitter
• YouTube clip of NBC coverage of 1948 election part 1 of 2
• YouTube clip of NBC coverage of 1948 election part 2 of 2
• Booknotes interview with Frank on Out of Thin Air: The Brief Wonderful Life of Network News, September 15, 1991.

Links to related articles v t e White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room seating chart row Podium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NBC WSJ AFP For. Pool Newsweek Wash Examiner Talk Radio Fox News CBS Radio USA Today MSNBC Time CCH Dallas Morning News CBS Bloomberg McClatchy Washington Times The Hill Salem Radio Boston Globe / Roll Call A.P. NPR AURN NY Daily News Hearst Media News CBN ABC Wash Post Politico National Journal NY Post CSM BBC / Balt Sun Reuters NY Times Tribune VOA Fox Radio BNA Scripps CNN AP Radio ABC Radio National Journal Chicago Sun-Times Dow Jones Financial Times The seating chart as of August 1, 2010. 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Bureau Chief) Correspondents Ron Allen • Lee Cowan • Michelle Kosinski • George Lewis • Lisa Myers • Mara Schiavocampo • Kelly O'Donnell • Jeff Rossen • Luke Russert • Kerry Sanders • Lilia Luciano • Kristen Dahlgren • Kristen Welker • Kevin Tibbles • Martin Savidge • Kate Snow • Janet Shamlian • Harry Smith  • Mike Taibbi • Mike Viqueira • John Yang NBC evening news anchors • NBC News • NBC • NBC Universal • nbcnews.com v t e Television news in the United States Broadcast news divisions: ABC News • CBS News • NBC News • PBS Newshour National cable/satellite channels: ABC News Now • CNN • Fox News Channel • HLN • MSNBC Specialty channels: Bloomberg Television • CNBC • CNBC World • C-SPAN • The Weather Channel • ESPNews • Fox Business • WeatherNation TV Non-profit channels: Free Speech TV • Link TV Spanish language: CNN en Español • Telemundo • Univision • Univision Noticias Broadband services: ABC News Now • CNBC Plus Defunct: All News Channel • America's Talking • CNNfn • CNN Pipeline • Satellite News Channel • CNNSI • CBC Newsworld International • FNN-SCORE • UPI Newstime • The Weather Cast v t e NBCUniversal LLC A joint venture of Comcast (51%) and General Electric (49%) Company Officials Board of Directors Stephen B. 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(50%) · CSS (50%) · Comcast Sports Southwest  · New England Cable News  · Comcast Network CNBC CNBC global channels CNBC · CNBC Africa · CNBC Asia · CNBC Europe · CNBC Latin America · CNBC World CNBC Europe branches Class CNBC (20%) · CNBC Africa · CNBC Arabiya (according to CNBC Europe) · CNBC-e · CNBC Nordic · TVN CNBC CNBC Asia branches CNBC-TV18 · CNBC Australia · CNBC Awaaz · CNBC Hong Kong · CNBC Pakistan · CNBC Singapore · Nikkei CNBC · SBS-CNBC Universal Networks International 13th Street Universal · Diva Universal · KidsCo[nu 5] · Movies 24 · Steel[nu 6] · Studio Universal · Syfy · Universal Channel Syfy global channels Asia · Australia · Benelux · France · Germany · Japan · Latin America · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · Serbia · Slovenia · Spain · UK · US NBCUniversal Television Group NBC Studios · NBCUniversal Television Distribution · Telemundo of Puerto Rico Studios · Telemundo Television Studios · Universal Television NBC O&Os California Nonstop · KNBC · KNSD[nu 7] · KNTV · KXAS[nu 7] (DFW Nonstop) · WCAU (NBC Philadelphia Nonstop)  · WMAQ (Chicago Nonstop) · WNBC (New York Nonstop) · WRC (Washington Nonstop) · WTVJ · WVIT Telemundo O&Os KBLR · KDEN · KEJT-LP · KHRR · KNSO[nu 8] · KSTS · KTAZ · KTMD · KVDA[nu 8] · KVEA · KXTX · WKAQ · WNEU[nu 8] · WNJU · WSCV · WSNS ShopNBC O&Os WWDP Internet ventures: Hulu[nu 9] · iVillage · msnbc.com[nu 10] · Television Without Pity · DailyCandy · Fandango Other assets: EMKA, Ltd. · qubo[nu 11] · WSI Corporation[nu 3]  · International Media Distribution Defunct properties: NBC Weather Plus (2004–2008) · Trio (1997–2005) · Diva TV (2007−2012) · Hallmark Channel International (1997−2011) · Discovery Kids (1996-2010) · Discovery Kids on NBC (2002-2006) · DreamWorks Records (1996-2005) · Go Fish Pictures (2000-2007) See also: Vivendi (former NBCUniversal stockholder and current parent company of Universal Music Group) · Comcast (telecommunications company that holds 51%) · General Electric (conglomerate that holds 49%) · MCA Inc. (legal predecessors of NBCUniversal) ^ Co-owned with Dentsu. ^ 50%, with Viacom's Paramount Pictures. ^ a b c Co-owned with Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. ^ minority share, InterMedia Partners is the majority owner. ^ Co-owned with Corus Entertainment and Cookie Jar Group. ^ Co-owned with Mediaset. ^ a b The stations are co-owned with LIN TV in a joint venture (76% owned by NBC, 24% owned by LIN). ^ a b c The stations are owned by NBCUniversal, but are controlled by ZGS Broadcast Holdings. ^ Co-owned with News Corporation and The Walt Disney Company. ^ Co-owned with Microsoft in a joint venture (50% owned by NBC, 50% owned by Microsoft). ^ Co-owned with Corus Entertainment, Classic Media, Nelvana, Scholastic Books and ION Media Networks.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

News is the communication of selected^[1] information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third-party or mass audience.

Etymology[link]

One theory claims that the English word "news" developed in the 14th century as a special use of the plural form of "new". In Middle English, the equivalent word was newes, like the French nouvelles and the German neues. Similar developments are found in the Slavic languages – the Czech and Slovak noviny (from nový, "new"), the cognate Polish nowiny and Russian novosti – and in the Celtic languages: the Welsh newyddion (from newydd) and the Cornish nowodhow (from nowydh).

History[link]

Before the invention of newspapers in the early 17th century, official government bulletins and edicts were circulated at times in some centralized empires.^[2]

The first documented use of an organized courier service for the diffusion of written documents is in Egypt, where Pharaohs used couriers for the diffusion of their decrees in the territory of the State (2400 BC).^[3] This practice almost certainly has roots in the much older practice of oral messaging and may have been built on a pre-existing infrastructure.

In Ancient Rome, Acta Diurna, or government announcement bulletins, were made public by Julius Caesar. They were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places.

In China, early government-produced news sheets, called tipao, circulated among court officials during the late Han dynasty (second and third centuries AD). Between 713 and 734, the Kaiyuan Za Bao ("Bulletin of the Court") of the Chinese Tang Dynasty published government news; it was handwritten on silk and read by government officials. In 1582 there was the first reference to privately published newssheets in Beijing, during the late Ming Dynasty.^[4]

In Early modern Europe, increased cross-border interaction created a rising need for information which was met by concise handwritten newssheets. In 1556, the government of Venice first published the monthly Notizie scritte, which cost one gazetta.^[5] These avvisi were handwritten newsletters and used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently to Italian cities (1500–1700) — sharing some characteristics of newspapers though usually not considered true newspapers.^[6] Due to low literacy rates, news was at times disseminated by town criers.

Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, from 1605, is recognized as the world's first newspaper.^[7]

The oldest news agency is the Agence France-Presse (AFP).^[8] It was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas.

In modern times, printed news had to be phoned in to a newsroom or brought there by a reporter, where it was typed and either transmitted over wire services or edited and manually set in type along with other news stories for a specific edition. Today, the term "breaking news" has become trite as commercial broadcasting United States cable news services that are available 24-hours a day use live satellite technology to bring current events into consumers' homes as the event occurs. Events that used to take hours or days to become common knowledge in towns or in nations are fed instantaneously to consumers via radio, television, mobile phone, and the Internet.

Newspapers[link]

Most large cities in the United States historically had morning and afternoon newspapers. As the media evolved and news outlets increased to the point of near over-saturation, most afternoon newspapers were shut down. Morning newspapers have been gradually losing circulation, according to reports advanced by the papers themselves. Commonly, news content should contain the "Five Ws" (who, what, when, where, why, and also how) of an event. There should be no questions remaining. Newspapers normally place hard news stories on the first pages, so the most important information is at the beginning. Busy readers can read as little or as much as they desire. Local stations and networks with a set format must take news stories and break them down into the most important aspects due to time constraints. Cable news channels such as BBC News, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, are able to take advantage of a story, sacrificing other, decidedly less important stories, and giving as much detail about breaking news as possible.

News organizations are often expected to aim for objectivity; reporters claim to try to cover all sides of an issue without bias, as compared to commentators or analysts, who provide opinion or personal point-of-view. The result is a laying out of facts in a sterile, noncommittal manner, and then standing back to "let the reader decide" which view is true.^[9] Several governments impose certain constraints or police news organizations against bias. In the United Kingdom, for example, limits are set by the government agency Ofcom, the Office of Communications. Both newspapers and broadcast news programs in the United States are generally expected to remain neutral and avoid bias except for clearly indicated editorial articles or segments. Many single-party governments have operated state-run news organizations, which may present the government's views.

Even in those situations where objectivity is expected, it is difficult to achieve, and individual journalists may fall foul of their own personal bias, or succumb to commercial or political pressure. Similarly, the objectivity of news organizations owned by conglomerated corporations fairly may be questioned, in light of the natural incentive for such groups to report news in a manner intended to advance the conglomerate's financial interests. Individuals and organizations who are the subject of news reports may use news management techniques to try to make a favourable impression.^[10] Because each individual has a particular point of view, it is recognized that there can be no absolute objectivity in news reporting.^[11]

Newsworthiness[link]

Newsworthiness is defined as a subject having sufficient relevance to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage.^[12]

In some countries and at some points in history, what news media and the public have considered "newsworthy" has met different definitions, such as the notion of news values.^[13] For example, mid-twentieth-century news reporting in the United States focused on political and local issues with important socio-economic impacts, such as the landing of a living person on the moon or the cold war. More recently, the focus similarly remains on political and local issues; however, the news mass media now comes under criticism for over-emphasis on "non-news" and "gossip" such as celebrities' personal social issues, local issues of little merit, as well as biased sensationalism of political topics such as terrorism and the economy. The dominance of celebrity and social news, the blurring of the boundary between news and reality shows and other popular culture, and the advent of citizen journalism may suggest that the nature of ‘news’ and news values are evolving and that traditional models of the news process are now only partially relevant.^[14] Newsworthiness does not only depend on the topic, but also the presentation of the topic and the selection of information from that topic.

New ecology of news[link]

“Everything we thought we once knew about journalism needs to be rethought in the Digital Age”,^[15] professor of Sociology and Communication Michael Schudson points out. Today the work of journalism can be done from anywhere and done well. It requires no more than a reporter and a laptop. In that way, journalistic authority seems to have become more individual- and less institution-based. But does the individual reporter always have to be an actual journalist? Or can journalistic work be done from anywhere and by anyone? These are questions that refers to the core of journalistic practice and the definition of “news” itself. As Schudson has given emphasis to, the answer is not easily found; “the ground journalists walk upon is shaking, and the experience for both those who work in the field and those on the outside studying it is dizzying”.^[15]

Schudson has identified the following six specific areas where the ecology of news in his opinion has changed: 1. The line between the reader and writer has blurred 2. The distinction among tweet, blog post, newspaper story, magazine article, and book has blurred 3. The line between professionals and amateurs has blurred, and a variety of “pro-am” relationships has emerged 4. The boundaries delineating for-profit, public, and non-profit media have blurred, and the cooperation across these models of financing has developed 5. Within commercial news organizations, the line between the news room and the business office has blurred 6. The line between old media and new media has blurred, practically beyond recognition ^[16]

These alterations inevitably has fundamental ramifications for the contemporary ecology of news. “The boundaries of journalism, which just a few years ago seemed relatively clear, and permanent, have become less distinct, and this blurring, while potentially the foundation of progress even as it is the source of risk, has given rise to a new set of journalistic principles and practices”,^[17] Schudson puts it. It is indeed complex, but it seems to be the future.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Stephens, Mitchell. "The History of News - 3rd Ed" Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.

External links[link]

• News media by country at the Open Directory Project

Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden in 2010
Participants	Osama bin Laden Central Intelligence Agency United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)
Location	Osama bin Laden's compound in Bilal Town, Abbottabad, Pakistan
Date	May 2, 2011 (2011-05-02)
Deaths	Osama bin Laden a.k.a. Abu Hamza, 54; Khalid bin Laden, 23; Arshad Khan, a.k.a. Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, 33; Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti's brother Abrar, 30; Bushra, Abrar's wife, age unknown.
Result	Osama bin Laden's body buried in North Arabian Sea

Osama bin Laden, the former head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda known for the September 11 attacks, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 am local time^[1][2] by Navy SEALs of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group. The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was ordered by United States President Barack Obama and carried out in a Central Intelligence Agency-led operation. Participating units included the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six), the U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), and CIA operatives.^[3][4] The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan was launched from Afghanistan.^[5] After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours of his death.^[6]

Al-Qaeda confirmed the death on May 6 with posts made on militant websites, vowing to avenge the killing.^[7] Other Pakistani militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, also vowed retaliation against the U.S. and against Pakistan for not preventing the operation.^[8] Bin Laden's killing was generally favorably received by U.S. public opinion;^[9][10] was welcomed by the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, and a large number of governments;^[11] but was condemned by some, including Fidel Castro of Cuba^[12] and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas administration of the Gaza Strip.^[13] Legal and ethical aspects of the killing, such as his not being taken alive despite being unarmed, were questioned by others, including Amnesty International.^[14] Also controversial was the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of bin Laden's death to the public.^[15]