The Daily Nightly began on May 31, 2005. As Brian wrote in his first post it aims to provide a narrative of the broadcast day and a window into the editorial process at NBC Nightly News. Brian weighs in every weekday and NBC News correspondents and producers post regularly.
Brian Williams became the seventh anchor and managing editor in the history of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004. Read his full biography.
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The flailing toddler that I made a mental note to avoid while in the checkout line has managed to board the same plane I am on to Dallas. The American terminal at LaGuardia this morning was vaguely reminiscent of the fall of the Sukarno regime in Jakarta, as the kiosks weren't functioning for many of us, lines were long, bags were large and plentiful (the kind they shrink-wrap in plastic, like they were part of a Shackleton expedition), and I proceeded to get into the TSA line where the novice standing at the E-Z Bake Oven baggage scanner was fascinated with my bag. He studied my four separate electronic chargers with eyes the size of hubcaps. Right now, during boarding, they are offering travel vouchers because they are overbooked. It's always fun to watch the monetary offer escalate. They started today at $300, but they are apparently BADLY overbooked, and may end up having to offer a senior vice presidency of American Airlines at corporate headquarters. I wonder if my wife would be happy living in Dallas...
We are headed to Dallas today to visit our NBC TV station there, KXAS. We will originate tonight's broadcast from our NBC News Bureau there -- more later.
Discuss (0 comments) 
Email this | 
Link to thisHere are some of my observations regarding Nightly News and broadcast journalism from the "inside" of the establishment:
Corporate interference: I arrived wondering whether the journalistic ethics of NBC News were ever violated because of ownership by a mass conglomerate (all the broadcast networks are owned by massive corporations). I received a strong response from the anchorman himself: Brian Williams was quick to point out that NBC covered the EPA’s decision to force General Electric to dredge the Hudson River for PCBs just like other news outlets. I decided to do a fact check. Sure enough, on August 1, 2001, Brian himself anchored one of the newscasts during which Nightly covered the story. Journalists are journalists, and I now know that at NBC, they value their journalistic integrity.
Discuss (17 comments) Email this | Link to thisDon't get me wrong, working inside the White House -- the West Wing even -- is an incredible honor. There is nothing like coming through the Northwest visitor's entrance and beholding one this country's great buildings and institutions.
Having said that, the press room here sorely needs a face lift. In fact, it's a dump. Reality is, while I respect my colleagues, there is not much common effort to show respect for the space we occupy. Example? About a year ago Tom Hanks donated a fancy espresso machine to the room and these days I wouldn't dare drink from it.
Discuss (24 comments) Email this | Link to thisThis will be abbreviated today, due to an item I am writing for air tonight on the White House Press Briefing Room.
We have the same basic structural news lineup that we did yesterday, and most of the same journalistic choices before us. Today, however, the heat affecting much of the nation is an even bigger news story. There are warnings posted in many cities, and voluntary restrictions in place, in hopes of saving the electric grid which was designed to handle the loads of seven decades ago. There have been deaths, and the plight of some seniors is truly sad. We will have it well covered tonight, along with a word about its cause... beyond the fact that it's summer.
Discuss (10 comments) Email this | Link to thisTomorrow, the tattered seats that supported the bottoms of so many White House journalists will be ripped up and carted off. Shortly, the booths where we work will be disassembled, the grungy carpet that through the years has been a depository for cigarette butts, spilled coffee and who knows what else will be ripped up from the floor and given a decent burial.
We're talking about the White House briefing room -- not the spiffy one seen on West Wing or Commander in Chief -- but the REAL one where we work. After years of neglect and years of history, stating tomorrow a nine-month renovation project will transform this tiny place into something which at least will be a lot more user friendly, modern and cleaner if those of us in the White House press corps manage to keep it that way.
Discuss (0 comments) Email this | Link to thisThe language of love can once again be spoken in the halls of your House of Representatives today, as GOP leaders have quietly - almost furtively - re-labeled "Freedom Toast" as French Toast.
The switch in the House basement cafeteria, first reported in this morning's Washington Times, came at some point yesterday, the first week of an extended recess for the House. A trip downstairs this morning by yours truly confirmed the change: there, plain as day, the sign reads "French Toast" and "Fries."
Discuss (5 comments) Email this | Link to thisBrian has recorded the Wednesday edition from his home office at NBC News headquarters in New York. Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch. He discusses the debate about last night's lead story and says he expects the same discussion tonight at the afternoon editorial meeting 90 minutes from now.
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisJERUSALEM - "I love being part of the Jewish state. As long as it goes on, we have to continue fighting for it."
In this hard-fought war, Sally Oren's words are hard spoken. Israel has just called her first-born son Yoav back to duty. Next week, he will be in uniform, fighting Hezbollah as a special forces solder in southern Lebanon, where eight Israeli soldiers died last week.
Sitting at a kitchen table drinking coffee with Sally, she tells you her husband Michael could have lost his life in Bint Jbail 23 years ago. That struggle to protect Israel, some say, was this nation's Vietnam. Michael came home with harrowing memories he didn't like to talk about.
Discuss (61 comments) Email this | Link to thisThink you're hot? Believe it or not, there are places MUCH hotter than what we're experiencing this week. First, there's Iraq... where the average temperature in July and August is 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Today's forecast for Iraq is 114 degrees. That should hold for the next two days, with 116 predicted for Saturday and then 118 for Sunday. Talk to any soldier wearing about 20 pounds of battle gear, and our situation pales in comparison.
Let's turn now to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. According to the BBC's five-day weather forecast, today should be a balmy 102 degrees, with temperatures going up to about 111 on Friday.
Discuss (3 comments) Email this | Link to thisI was pleasantly surprised my first day on the job at 30 Rock. I thought that I was walking into a very corporate environment at Nightly News. My only previous job experience had been working for the family business, and at basketball camps, where the interaction among employees is extremely informal. I expected the working environment and employee interaction at NBC to be vastly different, and I was worried about how I would carry myself.
All my notions about Nightly proved to be false from the onset.
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