Press Release

An Historic Week for MSNBC.com
Unprecedented coverage results in intense reader response and traffic

For immediate release—In the week following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, MSNBC.com harnessed the power of the Internet to deliver one-of-a-kind coverage of this devastating event.  While traffic and video numbers catapulted to record highs, it was the smaller numbers that counted as technology reconnected families, told stories and aided in the relief effort.

In the disarray following Katrina, families, friends and neighbors lost contact.  Working in conjunction with its sibling, the MSNBC cable network, MSNBC.com launched “looking for” and “safe” lists to help people reconnect.  Since launching on September 1, the volume of entries on these lists is staggering.  To date, the lists have nearly 120,000 entries -- more than the Red Cross itself – and 5 million pageviews.  These pages offer a forum for survivors to tell their loved ones they’re safe, those looking for loved ones to leave contact information and discussion boards for topics ranging from shelter information and the relief effort to people across the country offering refuge in their homes and jobs in their communities.  http://safe.msnbc.com

An email from a reader who located family members on the “safe” list:

“ Thanks to MSNBC and the miracle of modern technology, I have been able to locate lost family members! I am in Evansville, Indiana and I found them on MSNBC's safe list. They are at the Astrodome. I was able to contact my cousin, who lived in New Orleans and is in Houston staying with friends and tell her where they are! She is on the way to get them now! They are elderly and spent 2 days on the interstate with no food and water after citizens carried them on a boat to the interstate! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you“    A Looking & Safe user

MSNBC.com’s blogs took on new significance this week with unparalleled posts from its bloggers traveling throughout the region.  NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams, posting on-the-scene all week, shared his reports and experiences of the storm’s aftermath through the ‘Daily Nightly’.  Traffic to this blog grew to 350,000 page views with further posts expected from the Gulf Coast region.

Blogging their way through the devastated Gulf Coast region, MSNBC.com’s Andrew Locke and Mike Brunker made an impact by sharing detailed, eyewitness accounts of their encounters. Their reports are not from the major cities, but rather from smaller communities where there is little media presence.  Their accounts are gripping, heart-wrenching stories of survival and the amazing efforts to reconstruct this devastated region.  Hundreds of thousands of people have read the blog, and nearly 4,000 unique comments have been posted in response to their stories.  When they profiled an infant in need of specialized baby formula, MSNBC.com readers responded immediately:

“What kind of formula does Emily need? I am in Covington, LA (about 60 miles away) and will drive up there tonight to deliver it…”

“To Emily Boyd,

What type of baby formula do you need? I will send it from California. We have anything you need and want here.

Mary, a sympathetic mom”

See more of their reports: http://katrinablog.msnbc.com/.

With stunning visuals of this disaster, MSNBC.com’s multimedia storytelling produced record high numbers over the past week.

Videos and slideshows saw record traffic as evidenced by nearly 50 million videos played. This is more than three times the number of videos that were played the week of September 11, 2001, previously the largest video week ever on the site. The amount of time spent watching was significantly greater, with viewers dedicating almost ½ hour on average.  Traffic to photo slideshows soared to 165 million page views.  Overall traffic to the site doubled, averaging nearly 300 million page views for the week and 9 million unique users per day.