Hey! Have a great first year birthday! Just wanted to let you know...we're still reading and posting!!!

Brian!! Congrats on one year in the blogosphere! We love to have you. I was a news producer at an NBC affilate, now I'm working at an ABC affiliate, but I'm still the biggest Nightly News fan there is! And your blog gives such amazing insight to who you are and how you cover the news. We all appreciate the changes you made to make this space happen on the internet. These are changing times and you are leading the way. Keep up the great work!!

Hi Brian - A year already - Happy Anniversary and thanks for being adventurous and helping all of us learn about blogging along with you. I think we all learn from each other in this blog - ideas, thoughts, opinions click back and forth and are shared with our blogging community. And it is a way to keep in touch with each other in a personal way, something that we all need to do.
I must admit yours is not the only blog I read - I do look in on a Yankee blog or two as well.
Joan Chapman, Cheshire, CT

Brian-We were so happy to find that you were going to do the evening news for NBC; we'd always watched NBC (50+ years for me). I'd seen everyone's most amazing moments, and then yours(the all-nighter on MSNBC of the dreadful and fiery plane crash into the ocean at Long Island). And now, your blog gives us a head start into understanding the most important headlines of the day, and why you particularly think so. Your transparent enthusiasm for the opportunity you have to do what you do is indicative of the honest and open intellect you bring to your work. We are grateful.

10,000 responses,wonder what the hit count was? Well our first aniverserary has seen some real history, both for the bloger's and the blogee's, yes in fact the transition from small step to giant leap is still mind boggling and an art in progress. To be able to sit in our home's or office's or stuck in traffic in our fossil fuel personal transport's and actually communicate real time with folks at the scene of history making events is nothing less than phenominal. The reports from N.O. and Afaghanistan and Iraq have taken us all to another realm. The issues are vast and extremely complex and cannot be explained properly no less explored in two minute soundbites, but the great folks out there are doing there very best to get the stories out and some are paying their lives to do just that. Let us take a moment to reflect on the succesful honeymoon between the audience and the courageous reporter in the field, lets give credit where credit is due. For all the journalist's out there risking there limbs and lives to inform us all of what the truth is, let us all take a moment and reflect on the sacrifices of which there seems too much of and the triumphs of which there has been to little of. With the looming global glooming sky, we all must listen to the growing winds and make it a point to get informed and stay informed, it is not a right as an American to claim ignorance, it is a blood paid debt to inform ourselves. We all must recognize and give due attention. They were called World Wars and Cold Wars in history, we call what we are now fully in the door of, a "Global Conflict". There has always been conflict, doesnt affect us directly, so.. And that "Global Warming" theory, that will only affect somebody way in the future and we wont be here so.. And the constitutional challenges we face, "they" will take care of it. My question to all is, " who are, they"?
As we look back together, both the bloggers and the bloggee's as we slap eachothers back we must also look forward and move forward. The challenges we face tomorrow as a nation, as proffessionals, as neighbors, as father and sons, mothers and daughters are surly beyond what we can only imagine. Blogging by those in the field is a very effective tool. Hitler learned that as a young adult and WW1 field messenger, learned the absolute importance of communication and how to manipulate through filetring comunique to support agenda. With the challenges before us, we need to heed the task before us and ramp up all communications for we cannot claim ignorance as the journalist's / bloggers in the field directly facing the threats are giving their lives informing us. So, after the first year Brian, must have been and still is and will always be quite a learning experince. You sir have made history youself as the first net anchor to reach out from the screen and communicate directly with the viewer. For that, you get constantly critiqued by back seat drivers. It is a entirely new medium and there are kinks but boys and girls what a start. What a start. Brian you are a lion, let it roar. Special acknowledgement should be directed at Mr.Gralnick for his vision and to all that work so tirelessly to make this marriage work Daily and NIGHTLY. Let us prepare and give ourselves vision so we can see a better way.

Brian,
Congratulations on your first anniversary! It's been a great year of discovery for all of us as we learn to communicate this way, and for me, it's taught me how all of you think about the news and how hard it is to make those judgement calls about what gets on the air. Thank you for sharing all of this with us! I am a dedicated fan of Nightly News and look forward to many more years of blogging and learning!

I liked Mr. Brokaw very much and I believe his successor has been his equal.

Brian, it seems that this transition was an ideal time for NBC News to branch out onto the web. Can you share some background on what lead to your blogging and webcasting? For example, was it discussed to wait for Mr. Brokaw to leave before NBC News took some of these steps?

Brian,
Congrats on your first year. Suggested topics for upcoming telecast and/ or questions: Campaign Finance Reform - Is the media really trying to make something happen or just giving it "lip service"

Brian,
I've just started reading your guys blog. My family and I are loyal fans of Nightly News and I grew up with it and Tom Brokaw. Congrats on the one year mark and I hope there are many more.
Thanks for the blogs. As once an aspiring journalist...its neat to read them and get a sense of your day.
God Bless.
Shannon

My friends seem to find it trivial I need to watch nightly news and not any of the competing anchors but I've always felt your nightly broadcasts deliver the news with a quality and respect found only from experience and hard work. Congratulations on your blog's one year anniversary and thank you Mr. Williams, you've filled a void from my all time favorite anchor Peter Jennings.

Brian:

Congratulations from a computer class that is discussing blogging.

Do you think that Katie Couric will do this in September on CBS??

All the best.

I've read every single post in the last year. As a journalism student, the blog hasn't only served as an active chronicle of the news selection and coverage process, it's also a textbook of sorts that allows all interested how Nightly News finds the heart of stories that need to be told. Keep it up, it's a fascinating read.

Brian,

Congratulations on your one year mark! I have just recently started reading and have found it to be a great part of my daily routine. I am looking forward to tonite's broadcast.

Is it possible that "blogging" has superceded the "old fashion" news delivery process, particularly in this age of executive propagandizing. Here, one can assess and attempt to assuage others with a point of view untainted by political rigor. Perhaps, you may have found a greater calling as a "blogger" than as an "old fashioned" news delivery person. Indeed, a more valuable and honest method of "conveying the news".

Happy anniversary! And many more...

Looking forward to seeing your New Orleans coverage tonight.

Thanks for the blogs over the past year. I especially appreciate your efforts to keep the plight of Katrina victims in the public eye. As a resident of the Gulf Coast and former New Orleans resident as well, I am one of those in the camp of "lets not forget"! Your journalistic integrity and commitment to bringing us the true story is the reason why I continued watching NBC Nightly News after Tom left the chair. Keep up the great work!

Brian ~ Yours is one of the first blogs I read, and is still one I check in on daily. I also look through blogs that feed my soul and others that speak to leadership and ministry issues. Yours rounds out my favorites list with insight on news and politics.

My husband and I appreciate the style and manner in which you present the news each night. Thanks. I only wish it was an hour like you used to do "back in the day."

Likewise, Brian. It has brought us closer to you and gives us insight into the world you report to us every evening. I can imagine there is so much more to tell than you can tell us in a 30-minute newscast, so sharing your sidenotes and personal revelations can really create a much fuller story...thank you for that!
Safe travels, as always!

The webcasts have been greatly appreciated. 6:30 is a busy time and I often miss the news. I would trade any cable news for network news any day.

For the next year, I have a suggestion for a topic that needs in-depth coverage - the problems in education. The US Dept of Ed. is considering standardized testing in colleges for basic skills. An increasing number of college students enter college without these basics which is a tremendous indictment on an institution that is fundamental to a democratic society.