Honk if you love Pittsburgh
NBC’s ‘Nightly News With Lester Holt’ broadcasts live against a city backdrop of bridges and geese
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh: Come for the stories on tech, tradition and neighborly inspiration, stay for the geese and tiki bar boats.
NBC’s “Nightly News With Lester Holt” was broadcast live Thursday evening, against a backdrop of dramatic bridges, the Allegheny River, and those hissing, honking geese. Near the end of the 6:30 p.m. program, as Mr. Holt did a stand-up shot at the river’s edge, one of the recently launched Crusin’ Tikis strategically floated into view.
It played well on TV; whenever national news shows venture outside of the studio, there are always going to be surprises. In the case of “Nightly News’ “set up in Allegheny Landing between the Warhol and Clemente bridges on the North Shore, Pittsburgh was stop No. 4 in a week of “Across America” broadcasts that visited Portland, Ore., Denver, Chicago (in a rainstorm) and Friday winds up in the RaleighDurham area.
Mr. Holt also spent about 20 minutes afterward discussing current topics with more than a dozen students from Pittsburgh Allderdice High School. One of the first things he mentioned was the activism at Parkland High School in Florida following the mass shooting there Feb. 14.
“When I was 17, 18, first of all, we weren’t that cool, we weren’t that smart,” Mr. Holt told them. “We’ve got to tap into what you guys do. Sounds corny, but you are the future.”
They also talked about the current image of news media, and what sources the teens go to for trusted information. Some said social media such as Twitter, others cited more long-form sources such as The Atlantic and The New Yorker.
One discussion — is Pittsburgh the sort of city that these students will return to after college, and why — circled back on a major segment of the “Nightly News” broadcast: Pittsburgh as a new Silicon Valley.
Success stories included interviews with Duolingo founder Luis von Ahn and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.
But the report didn’t shy away from the cost of the city’s tech boom: East Liberty residents who have lost their homes to gentrification.