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NBCNews.com Dedicates Its Entire Homepage to Coverage of the Coronavirus

By A.J. Katz 

Today, Dec. 11, NBC News is dedicating the full NBCNews.com homepage to coverage of the most important topic on the planet: The coronavirus pandemic.

This is the first time the site’s homepage will devote all of its content to a single topic.

NBC News senior tech and science editor Jason Abbruzzese came up with the idea.

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“The project was in part borne out of the same kinds of frustrations our friends, family and readers feel – that there seems to be a growing sense that the pandemic is beyond our control,”Abbruzzese told TVNewser. “We wanted to acknowledge that feeling but also push back against it. By dedicating the homepage to this coverage – and catering our coverage to the most pressing questions our readers have – we’re communicating to our audience and the public the importance and urgency of this story and how our choices still matter.”

The decision to do a major day of coronavirus coverage, highlighted by exclusively featuring coronavirus-themed stories on its homepage, was also influenced by comments made on Wednesday by Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, who said that the next few months in the U.S. will be “the most difficult in the public health history of this nation.”

A total of 3,124 Americans died from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a new record.

“We’ve never devoted our entire homepage to a single topic quite like this, but if ever there was a public service moment, this is it,” NBC News global head of digital news Catherine Kim told TVNewser. “We couldn’t be more convinced that this is the right approach to take at this critical juncture, when Americans can still influence the course of the virus’ deadly spread over the next four months. But we have to do it with urgency. We have to change our behavior. It will involve sacrifice. And we have to do it now to save lives.”

Kim added: “We hope our journalism tells this story powerfully and conveys the message: we can save tens of thousands of lives, but we have to do it together.”

The homepage takeover of NBCNews.com is leading with an an interesting data interactive graphic illustrating the toll Covid-19 has taken on American lives, as well as multiple pieces addressing some of the most pressing questions.

In order to see the homepage, either click here, or scroll down:

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How America Gave Up

And how we fight back

Dec. 11, 2020

In just the last few weeks, the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. went from an emergency to a disaster. And it is getting worse — possibly much worse.

There are more cases of Covid-19, more deaths and more pain for families than ever experienced throughout the darkness of 2020. A fractured government response, combined with growing public malaise and distrust, is threatening once again to overwhelm hospital systems across the country, just as it did in the confused and panic-filled weeks at the beginning of the pandemic.

Vaccines are on the way, with the first U.S. approval pending and distribution networks ready to launch. But that does not change the stark reality of the coming months: Public health professionals expect the winter to be the worst season yet for victims of the virus — assuming that America does not change the path it is on.

Before the year-end holidays begin, providing the easiest possible transmission of the virus, NBC News is presenting these special reports as a last-minute attempt to highlight an urgent truth: We can still turn the tide of the pandemic.




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