The Today Show Promotes New Website

Photo credit: Edgar Zuniga Jr.

If you cannot get to a television for your daily fix of your favorite program, don't worry.  Television programs have started to extend themselves online, including NBC's Today Show.  According to The New York Times, on Tuesday, March 8, the show will be producing a one-time web cast in addition to their regular programming.  The web cast will be called "The Today.com Show."  It will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and will be hosted by Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford.



The webcast is to promote the new website which was redesigned to emphasize video clips.  It will go behind the scenes and give viewers a chance to see what goes on in Studio 1A.  You can check out the redesigned site here.  It took two years of research and development to get the site to where it is now.  Viewers can now easily navigate and find everything from the morning's show.



The site is also utilizing social media with their Twitter, Facebook, and tumblr.com accounts in addition to helping Today Show anchor Meredith Viera tweet for the first time tomorrow during the cast.



New websites that emphasize video are sure to become more popular.  According to Alexa, a web information company, YouTube.com is the third most popular site globally.  Video online is easily accessible and mostly free; when consumers miss their shows or would like to watch clips, they turn to the web.  More and more companies are utilizing the power of the web, and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Serene Branson Grammy Scare

Even though the Grammy's were a couple of weeks ago, Serene Branson and her Grammy report is still a viral story on the Internet.  Branson is a reporter for CBS Los Angeles, and while she was on scene in downtown LA she stumbled over her words and could not be understood.

The video instantly went viral and soon there were YouTube videos all over the Internet with titles such as "Funny," "CBS Reporter Serene Branson Grammy lol the media is so dumb," "Grammy Reporter MESSES UP Live," etc.  Soon after, it was reported Branson may have suffered a stroke.  Some of those who posted comments about the incident removed or changed them after they found out she may have had a stroke.  For example, in an article about the video by blogger Dave Lee; he stated that The Daily Record posted, "Serene Branson was presenting for CBS2 at the biggest music bas in the world when she struggled to pout together a coherent sentence."  It was replaced with, "CBS reporter Serene Branson was last night under observation in hospital after it was feared she may have suffered a stroke live on air during the Grammy Awards broadcast."

There are many different opinions on this incident.  Some think that the incident still is funny even after the reports, and they say she was just nervous or forgot what she was going to say.  Others think the comments making fun of Branson are too harsh and should be removed; especially after she was looked at medically.

One of the critics was Nir Rosen, a journalist who held a position at New York University.  One of his tweets was, "i apologize for being insensitive, its always wrong, thats obvious, but i'm rolling my eyes at all the attention she will get."  Rosen resigned after the tweets he made about the incident. The University condoned his comments.

You can watch Branson talking about the incident and how she is doing now here.  This incident shows the impact of videos and social media today, as well as the instant news demand.  Twenty years ago, Rosen maynot have been condemned for his comments and publications would not have had to change their articles because they did not post news instantly.  Now, when comments are made online and articles are posted, the author must be ready for the possible positive or negative effects his or her comments can have.  The author must also be ready for the possibility he or she spoke too soon.