NBC News memo: Chief offers counseling to staffers returning from Haiti coverage

As would be expected, Al Roker wasn't the only NBC News employee to return shaken and upset after visiting Haiti in the horrible aftermath of the deadly earthquake. NBC News boss Steve Capus sent out the following memo to staffers returning home from finding stories of tragedy and inspiration:

From: "Capus, Steve (NBC Universal)
To: "@NBC Uni News Everyone"
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 7:34 PM
Subject: EAP Counselors Available

In previous notes, I've used words like "powerful, emotion and sensitive," to describe the reporting from NBC News personnel both inside and outside of Haiti. The earthquake coverage put a very strong spotlight on the suffering of the people of Haiti - and in many cases gave a face, voice and name to the individual victims.

Many of you have had a role in our extensive coverage and that means you may have been exposed to searing images and may be struggling in the aftermath. We want to let you know there are Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselors available to help. They can be reached on the phone 24/7 by calling 1-800-xxx-xxxx.

In-person sessions are also available:

At 30 Rock: 7th floor Medical Center: we will have two counselors available from 6a- 8p Wed, Jan 20th- Fri Jan 22nd. All walk-ins are welcome.

In the Washington Bureau, Wed, Jan 20th 9a-5p. All walk-ins are welcome.

As our teams return from Haiti, we will also arrange to have counselors in our bureaus or available via the telephone for debrief conversations.

Zucked up: NBC boss finds hope in Haiti

"Look! Over there! No! Not at late night! At Haiti!"

With his once-winning network crumbling around him, the Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien embarrassment making the prospect of keeping his job at the top once the deal to dump NBC onto Comcast comes through a little less certain, and seeing his name suddenly morphed into a new word that means "bungled" ("zucked up"), Jeff Zucker can at least take comfort knowing he didn't screw up NBC News too badly by, let's say, trying to hold onto Katie Couric by giving her the Nightly News chair. This memo went out to the troops and their leaders this morning:

Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 1:01 AM
Subject: HAITI Coverage

A quick note of thanks to everyone at NBC News and MSNBC and MSNBC.com who has played a role in covering the earthquake in Haiti, both here at home and on the ground there.

Your coverage has been comprehensive, compassionate, powerful, sensitive and respectful, often under incredibly difficult circumstances.

Of course, nothing can do real justice to the tragedy that has unfolded in Haiti, the devastating loss of life and the unimaginable aftermath that now exists there.

But you have again reminded us why so many of us got into this business .. to help shine a light on events like this and, in doing so, bring some small measure of hope to those affected.

You have done it superbly, and made the entire company proud.

Thank you again.

JEFF

NBC News chief on Haiti: "So many stories to be told! Thanks for a great week!"

It was a bad week for NBC-Universal chief Jeff Zucker (what with Leno and Conan and all), but for NBC News president Steve Capus, the disaster in Haiti was a something of a blessing-- a great opportunity for his division to show what they're made of. In his message to his troops today, he says:

"This is just the beginning:
There's so much suffering...
so much rebuilding to be done...
so many stories to be told."

January 15, 2010
A Message From Steve Capus

There is a lot to cover in this first note of 2010, but before I get to that, I just want to thank everyone for their first-rate work on the Haiti Earthquake coverage. While I write this, we still have no way to calculate the enormity of the devastation, nor the numbers of those who've been lost. It's a calamity, and the challenges of giving it the proper perspective are enormous. Just about everyone in this news division has contributed in some manner to the coverage... but I'm especially proud of the resourceful crews, technicians, producers andreporters who dropped everything in order to establish our presence in Port au Prince and Santo Domingo.

Hats off to Brian Williams, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Kerry Sanders, Michelle Kosinski, Ron Allen, Bob Bazell, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, WNBC's Tom Llamas and their teams of producers and crews who all traveled to a region without knowing the countless challenges they'd face. David Verdi's Net desk team and bureaus have done brilliant jobs managing the logistical and news gathering efforts. We could not have pulled this off without them. At times like these, I am amazed by the breadth and depth of this news division: Over the past 72 hours, I've seen our comprehensive coverage on "Today," "Nightly," MSNBC, CNBC, msnbc.com, the Weather Channel, our owned and operated stations and the NBC affiliates ... all distributed through NBC Newschannel and via our international partners. This is just the beginning: There's so much suffering... so much rebuilding to be done... so many stories to be told.

One related note: For the last 32 years, NBC's Martin Fletcher has lent his considerable expertise to coverage such as the Haiti earthquake. We've always been able to turn to Martin for outstanding field reporting, emotional story-telling, and great camaraderie. Sadly for us, Martin has now had a taste of what's it's like to be a best-selling author. He has "the bug" and wants to purse more book projects. So, Martin has decided to retire from his full-time job with NBC News. However, NBC News will always be Martin's home and we are excited about some future projects that we've begun to consider. We're fortunate that Tom Aspell is already based in the region... Richard Engel spends a considerable amount of time there... and our aggressive partners at ITN are co-located in our new Tel Aviv bureau.

There is more to discuss about topics such as: Dateline's expanding role in NBC's primetime line-up... the considerable success our broadcasts are enjoying these days... MSNBC's upcoming town hall on race... NBC News announcement on DPI (see below)... and so much more. But for now, let's keep our focus on the Haiti crisis. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti.

Thanks for a great week.

steve

Hurry! Ask NBC's Jeff Zucker a question!

From NBC News:

REMINDER TODAY --
NBC NEWS TOWN HALL AT 1 PM ET

Please join NBC Universal President & CEO Jeff Zucker
and NBC News President Steve Capus
for an NBC News Town Hall
to discuss a New NBC Universal
and answer employee questions.

Thursday, December 10th at 1:00 pm, ET

If you will be at 30 Rock,
please come to Studio 6A (Dr. Oz)
(enter on 7)
~
For employees in other locations,
please participate via LIVE webcast

Click here for the webcast, and to submit questions now and during the Town Hall.

Memo from NBC News boss covers everything but Tom Brokaw's car crash

The workweek ended in a big way for NBC News. Tom Brokaw's involvement in a fatal three-vehicle accident in the Bronx, neatly encapsulated and his lack of culpability established in his own instant press release, came five years after Brian Williams took his seat at NBC Nightly News, a year after David Gregory took over from Brokaw's role filling on Meet The Press for the suddenly-departed Tim Russert, and days after Comcast sealed the deal to buy NBC and its news division from GE.

The Brokaw tragedy took place too late in the day to be included on NBC News President Steve Capus' peptalk memo to the troops:

December 4, 2009
A Message From Steve Capus

Lots of news to acknowledge this week.

Regarding the Comcast deal, as I have said to several of you over the past couple of days, I am so happy that its out and we can finally talk about it. I appreciate how all of you managed to keep focused over the past couple of months during the feeding frenzy of speculation over the future of NBC Universal. Thank you for that.

I feel really good about this new partnership. Comcast has tremendous respect for this news division, evident in this quote that ran yesterday in the New York Times coverage: "NBC News is a national treasure whose independence we all value and we will always respect," David L. Cohen, a Comcast executive vice president. I'm excited about the opportunities ahead and the future of this news division.

I can not emphasize enough: every aspect of this news division is of great value to NBCU and our owners. NBC News is a success story that first and foremost respects the traditions of this great news organization - understands and appreciates what our audiences have come to expect from us - and is built around talented and dedicated employees who help us to run successful business ventures, grounded in journalistic excellence. That is what makes us the premier news organization in the country and it's gratifying to be viewed these ways during such critical times.

While I have had the chance to talk with many of you, I will have the opportunity to talk with the entire news division worldwide over the next week, stay tuned for details on that. In the meantime, I encourage you to go to this website and learn more about a New NBC Universal.

I promise to keep you informed in the coming months as we go through this regulatory period -- and please, as always, send any questions to asksteve@nbcuni.com.

This week we celebrated the five-year anniversary of Brian Williams in the anchor chair at "Nightly News." While it seems like yesterday he took the reins, its still staggering to reflect on the breaking news he's covered, the countries he's traveled, and the stories he's told us over the past five years. Stability - performance - excellence... we've come to expect it on a nightly basis - and Brain and the NN team have delivered. This anniversary comes at a time when "Nightly News" continues its rating dominance and bucking the trend exhibiting year-to-year growth. I encourage all of you to read the LA Times' profile on Brian below - it captures our friend spot-on.

Next week we'll celebrate David Gregory's one-year anniversary as moderator at "Meet the Press." I'd be hard-pressed to find a transition that was more daunting than this one was, but still executed so successfully. David has steadily made MTP his show, and he has fended off the competition in an extremely competitive landscape. I am so proud of the work that David, Betsy and everyone at MTP does week in and week out.

Also of note: Season-to-date, TODAY has widened its advantages over both GMA and Early Show in homes, total viewers, rating W/A18-49, and rating W/A25-54 compared to the same period last season.... MSNBC's coverage of the President's Afghanistan decision this week was first rate. Keith Olbermann's special commentary was particularly provocative. Rightly so, it became part of the national debate on these important matters... The Grio.com launched a great series on unemployment in African-American populations... and MSNBC.com hosted a cross-media summit, in an ongoing effort with News Sales to maximize online and TV special sales projects.

We have a lot of holiday gatherings over the next couple of weeks, try to have some fun and hope to see you on the 14th.

Thanks for a great week.

Steve