It has been a while since I wrote a positive critique on NBC News's coverage of an event, but today will break the streak. NBC Politics dove head-first into how Congress and the president reacted to the sequester deadline Friday.
The most impressive of NBC's coverage was its constant coverage of the sequester throughout the day. NBC started with an article early in the morning, prior to President Obama's meeting with congressional leaders. The article basically went through what the sequester would look like and how long it would take for the cuts to have an effect on government jobs. Shortly after, NBC published a Reuters piece which analyzed the sudden drop in American income as a result of "fiscal cliff" deal tax hikes.
Around 10:45 a.m., Obama made a statement from the White House regarding his meeting with congressional leaders. NBC tweeted a link to live video feed of the statement a few times prior to the statement. While Obama spoke about his disappointment in Republicans' ability to accept a deal, NBC made sure to live-tweet the entire speech. They also made comments about the Q-and-A session with the president, especially regarding his Star Wars-Star Trek gaffe.
For the rest of the day, NBC Politics filled its webpage with an almost overwhelming amount of coverage of the sequester. Not only did NBC publish a comprehensive summary article for Obama's statement, it also included a Meet the Press preview for an interview with Speaker John Boehner which will be released Sunday.
The page also has an article about the drama of a comment made by the Education Secretary, the backlash of Star Wars and Star Trek fans to Obama's "Jedi mind meld" comment, and a look at the next upcoming fiscal deadline.
NBC was also one of the first news sources to tweet about Obama's signing of the sequester effects into law. It provided a detailed article on his accepting the sequester as well.
I am very impressed at the volume and quality of online content NBC put together in covering the sequester. Generally, NBC has had a track record focusing a lot on the entertainment aspect of large news events. Granted, a budget sequester does not have very many entertainment angles for NBC to exploit, except for Obama's nerdy gaffe. And granted, NBC did include plenty of coverage of the gaffe.
Still, I enjoyed NBC politics' coverage of the event. Overall, it was balanced and extraordinarily comprehensive.
The most impressive of NBC's coverage was its constant coverage of the sequester throughout the day. NBC started with an article early in the morning, prior to President Obama's meeting with congressional leaders. The article basically went through what the sequester would look like and how long it would take for the cuts to have an effect on government jobs. Shortly after, NBC published a Reuters piece which analyzed the sudden drop in American income as a result of "fiscal cliff" deal tax hikes.
Around 10:45 a.m., Obama made a statement from the White House regarding his meeting with congressional leaders. NBC tweeted a link to live video feed of the statement a few times prior to the statement. While Obama spoke about his disappointment in Republicans' ability to accept a deal, NBC made sure to live-tweet the entire speech. They also made comments about the Q-and-A session with the president, especially regarding his Star Wars-Star Trek gaffe.
For the rest of the day, NBC Politics filled its webpage with an almost overwhelming amount of coverage of the sequester. Not only did NBC publish a comprehensive summary article for Obama's statement, it also included a Meet the Press preview for an interview with Speaker John Boehner which will be released Sunday.
The page also has an article about the drama of a comment made by the Education Secretary, the backlash of Star Wars and Star Trek fans to Obama's "Jedi mind meld" comment, and a look at the next upcoming fiscal deadline.
NBC was also one of the first news sources to tweet about Obama's signing of the sequester effects into law. It provided a detailed article on his accepting the sequester as well.
I am very impressed at the volume and quality of online content NBC put together in covering the sequester. Generally, NBC has had a track record focusing a lot on the entertainment aspect of large news events. Granted, a budget sequester does not have very many entertainment angles for NBC to exploit, except for Obama's nerdy gaffe. And granted, NBC did include plenty of coverage of the gaffe.
Still, I enjoyed NBC politics' coverage of the event. Overall, it was balanced and extraordinarily comprehensive.