NBC News acting president Steve Capus‘s memo to NBC News employees today:
| All around NBC News there will be great pride, for a long time to come, thanks to the incredible effort today by the Today Show. This morning’s split broadcast was simply outstanding. “Today” took full advantage of the resources available to this news division — and went even further. You hear a lot of people these days talking about “thinking big.” Well, take a look at the Today Show this week to see big thoughts in action. The combined efforts of NBC News, Habitat for Humanity and Warner Music are on full display in Rockefeller Plaza — and other cities around the country — and will provide some welcome relief for families in the Gulf states. As Katie Couric and Al Roker showed us this morning, this is a massive humanitarian effort – a worthy cause. Katie’s segments with the Collins family brought that home for all of us. That would have been impressive enough, but to combine it with Matt Lauer’s skillful, poignant reporting from the hurricane zone made this broadcast all the more powerful. Lester Holt and Campbell Brown reminded us not to forget the people in places like Port Arthur, Texas and Biloxi, Mississippi. Overall, we’ve made a commitment to cover hurricanes… the aftermath… real, important societal issues… and use the power of NBC to make a difference. We’ve established a New Orleans bureau… Brian Williams has made 4 trips to report from the region… MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, the NBC News Channel, and the NBC O&Os have spent hour after hour informing their viewers in smart, creative ways… we’ve done superb Dateline specials… our new media efforts have soared on wireless, radio and digital platforms… MSNBC.com has built upon its #1 ranking… and Weather Plus continues to brilliantly meet the challenges of this busy hurricane season. And that’s just been in the last month! Keep your ideas coming… think resourcefully… tell great stories… and just like “Today” – think big. My thanks to everyone. — Steve |
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