Dateline NBC
| Dateline NBC | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Newsmagazine |
| Presented by | Ann Curry (2005–present) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes to 2 hours (including commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Peacock Productions, a unit of NBC News |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | March 31, 1992 – Present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It is similar in format to other television newsmagazines ABC's 20/20 and CBS's 60 Minutes. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.
Contents |
[edit] History
Dateline is historically notable for its longevity on the network. The show, which has aired since 1992, is currently anchored by Ann Curry. Curry first co-anchored on June 24, 2005. Stone Phillips and Jane Pauley previously co-anchored. Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer, and Brian Williams are among the NBC News correspondents. Past contributing anchors were Bryant Gumbel who left NBC in 1997, Maria Shriver who left NBC in 2004, and Katie Couric who left NBC in 2006. The program first originated from NBC Studio 3K, using the same set the NBC Nightly News was using at the time. When The Today Show moved to its current sidewalk studio, Dateline took over Studio 3B with a brand-new set. Dateline was broadcast in High Definition for the first time on Monday, July 21, 2008, with an episode titled "Tower Dogs." 2-hour feature-length editions sometimes air on any given scheduled evening. The fall 2009 season began airing on Saturday, September 26, 2009.[1]
[edit] Comparison with other news magazines
Much like other newsmagazines, Dateline programming includes investigative journalism, true crime, and human interest stories. Common segments feature Dateline: Survivor, where a person talks about their near death experience and rescue; Dateline Timeline, where a popular product, person, and music single are played and viewers are invited to guess what year it appeared in; State of the Art, explaining how something was technically accomplished in a movie; Consumer Alert, where common consumer complaints or issues, such as food safety, are investigated, and Newsmakers, light interviews of major figures in politics, entertainment, and business, as well as regular people in the news. The Saturday night edition of Dateline features special emphasis on true crime stories programming, which has been named Dateline Saturday Night and includes the "To Catch a Predator" series. NBC News specials also air under the Dateline banner.
[edit] Controversies
[edit] General Motors v. NBC
Dateline NBC aired an investigative report on Tuesday, November 17, 1992, titled “Waiting to Explode.” The 60 minute program was about General Motors pickup trucks allegedly exploding upon impact during accidents due to the poor design of fuel tanks. Dateline's film showed a sample of a low speed accident with the fuel tank exploding. In reality, Dateline NBC producers had rigged the truck’s fuel tank with remotely controlled explosives. The program did not disclose the fact that the accident was staged. GM investigators studied the film, and discovered that smoke actually came out of the fuel tank 6 frames before impact. GM subsequently filed an anti-defamation/libel lawsuit against NBC after conducting an extensive investigation. On Monday, February 8, 1993 GM conducted a highly publicized point-by-point rebuttal in the Product Exhibit Hall of the General Motors Building in Detroit that lasted nearly two hours after announcing the lawsuit.[2] The lawsuit was settled the same week by NBC, and Jane Pauley read a 3 minute 30 second on-air apology to viewers.
The law suit and subsequent settlement was arguably the most devastating blow for NBC in a series of reputation damaging incidents during the 1990s and early 2000s. Within NBC, Michael Gartner, who resigned shortly after the incident, was the source for much of the blame. Then-NBC News President Reuven Frank stated Gartner was hired in 1988, despite no TV news background, in an attempt to satisfy parent-company General Electric by replacing current journalists with cheaper, less experienced reporters and producers.[3]
The following Dateline NBC producers were dismissed: Jeff Diamond, executive producer; David Rummel, senior producer; and Robert Read, producer of the report on the pickups. Michele Gillen, the reporter involved in the segment, was transferred to Miami station WTVJ. Michael G. Gartner, president of the news division, resigned under pressure.
[edit] Trapping story targets
Dateline NBC soon returned to the controversy spotlight via a May 4, 1993 piece titled "Cataract Cowboys" in which Brian Ross claimed that doctors unnecessarily performed surgery on elderly patients. The controversy brought into question techniques used such as disregarding evidence that contradicts a story's claim and using planted accomplices to entrap targets of the story. The Southeastern Eye Center attempted to sue NBC over the story, but later dropped the suit.
[edit] Quixtar
In 2004, Dateline NBC aired a report, alleging that some high-level Quixtar Independent Business Operators (IBOs) make most of their money from selling motivational materials, rather than Quixtar products, and make unrealistic claims about potential income. Much of this report was based on information obtained from a competing MLM owner's website.[4] Quixtar provided written statements to Dateline, but declined to respond on camera, believing that their position would be distorted. Instead the company published an official Quixtar Response website.[5]
[edit] Michelle Madigan
In August 2007, Michelle Madigan, a reporter for Dateline NBC, attempted to secretly record hackers admitting to crimes at the convention. After being outed by DEF CON founder Jeff Moss during an assembly, she was heckled and chased out of the convention by attendees for her use of covert audio and video recording equipment. DEF CON staff tried to get Madigan to obtain a press pass before the outing happened.[6] A DEF CON source at NBC had tipped off organizers to Madigan's plans.[7]
[edit] To Catch a Predator
To Catch a Predator is a Dateline series hosted by Chris Hansen.
The sting operations begin with recordings of internet chats with "decoys" from Perverted-Justice, posing as teenagers under the age of consent. To Catch a Predator videotapes men who attempt to meet the "children" in person. As soon as the target is inside the "sting" house, Hansen confronts them and asks them about the internet chats they had with the decoy. After being confronted by Hansen, the men are arrested by local police.[8]
[edit] Dateline NBC Staff
ANCHORS
- Ann Curry (2005–present)
CONTRIBUTING ANCHORS
- Brian Williams (2004–present)
- Matt Lauer (1997–present)
- Meredith Vieira (2006–present)
- Natalie Morales (2004–present)
CORRESPONDENTS
- Martin Bashir (2010–present)
- Chris Hansen
- Hoda Kotb (1998–present)
- Keith Morrison (1995–present)
- Dennis Murphy
- Kate Snow (2010–present)
- Josh Mankiewicz
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
- David Corvo
FORMER CO-ANCHORS
- Stone Phillips (1992–2007)
- Jane Pauley (1992–2003)
Director
- John Libretto
[edit] International broadcasts
NBC affiliates are widely available in Canada, and MSNBC and NBC News programming is shown for several hours a day on the 24 hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. This includes Dateline NBC and several other shows. It is also broadcast on the Seven Network in Australia on Sundays at 5am but is pre-empted by paid programming on regional affiliates Prime Television and Golden West Network.
[edit] Reruns
Repackaged episodes of Dateline air under the name Dateline on ID on Investigation Discovery.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "Fall TV: NBC Announces Premiere Dates". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/FallTV-NBC-premieres-1007251.aspx. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
- ^ "GM vs. NBC, a New Wave of Employee Pride". GMHeritageCenter. http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/GM_vs._NBC,_a_New_Wave_of_Employee_Pride. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
- ^ "'Dateline' Disaster". Entertainment Weekly. February 26, 1993. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html.
- ^ Dateline NBC report on Quixtar
- ^ Official Quixtar Response website in response to Dateline NBC
- ^ Cassel, David (4 August 2007). ""Transcript: Michelle Madigan's run from Defcon"". Tech.Blorge.com. http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/08/04/transcript-michelle-madigans-run-from-defcon/. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ Zetter, Kim (3 August 2007). ""Dateline Mole Allegedly at DefCon with Hidden Camera -- Updated: Mole Caught on Tape"". Wired Blog Network. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/media-mole-at-d.html. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ "Prosecutor Kills Himself in Texas Raid Over Child Sex", by Tim Eaton, New York Times, November 7, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2008
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