Editing Dateline NBC (section)

==Comparison with other news magazines==
''Dateline'' focuses on true crime and human interest stories, predominantly featuring a single story for the entire program.<ref>{{cite magazine|title='Rock Center' Looks to Bring More Hard News to Primetime|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rock-center-brian-williams-nbc-252539|author=Marisa Guthrie|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|date=October 24, 2011|access-date=December 18, 2011|archive-date=December 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111225115947/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rock-center-brian-williams-nbc-252539|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Keith Morrison]] often serves as narrator for certain editions, usually reporting on real-life murder mysteries chronicled in many editions, and [[cliffhanger]]s are used prior to commercial breaks.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|title=True Crime TV on Shows Like 'Dateline'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/arts/television/true-crime-tv-on-shows-like-dateline.html|author=Bill Carter|work=The New York Times|date=August 19, 2011|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=April 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411223112/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/arts/television/true-crime-tv-on-shows-like-dateline.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Famous con man [[Steve Comisar]] appeared regularly on ''Dateline'' as a fraud prevention expert.<ref name="GQ">[http://sabrinaerdely.com/docs/TheCreepWithTheGoldenTongue.pdf The Creep With the Golden Tongue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209061824/http://www.sabrinaerdely.com/docs/TheCreepWithTheGoldenTongue.pdf |date=February 9, 2017 }} by [[Sabrina Erdely]], ''[[GQ]]'', August 2003, 126-32, 155-156.</ref>

The Friday night edition of ''Dateline'' features special emphasis on true crime stories, which previously included the "To Catch a Predator" series. Most NBC News specials, either in the form of special interviews or extended special reports on pertinent breaking news stories that occurred earlier in the day, are also broadcast under the ''Dateline'' banner. However, on occasion, the Sunday broadcasts (airing in a time slot otherwise reserved for family-friendly programming, aside from [[CBS]]' competitor ''[[60 Minutes]]'') focuses on stories tailored for younger viewers, such as recent Sunday reports on teen drivers and child safety; on other weeks, the Sunday editions feature either true crime stories, stories recounting situations in which people have survived life-threatening situations, consumer reports or interviews.
 
''Dateline'' features a single story format, although in the past the program maintained a traditional newsmagazine format with multiple segments of varying length, such as with the Sunday version,<ref name="nytimes.com"/> which in particular still occasionally features multiple story packages that are tied to a specific theme. Unlike the other flagship newsmagazines on U.S. television ([[CBS]]' ''[[60 Minutes]]'' and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]''), ''Dateline'' featured more character-driven stories focusing on the audience's emotional attachment to the persons featured, and fewer non-character driven international and national news stories. However, the success of ''Dateline'' led to the other networks to create additional versions of their newsmagazines, ''[[60 Minutes II]]'' and additional nights of ''20/20'' (which were often not as successful).<ref name=eot />

Executive producer [[Neal Shapiro]] pioneered several "signature segments" that appeared regularly on the program. These included ''Dateline: Survivor'', in which a person recounts a [[near-death experience]] and their eventual rescue; ''Dateline Timeline'', in which a popular product, person and music single are shown/played that viewers are invited to guess what year it was from; ''State of the Art'', explaining how a [[special effect]] or stunt in a movie was technically accomplished; ''Consumer Alert'', in which common consumer complaints or issues (such as [[food safety]] and products of suspect quality that may be dangerous) are investigated, ''Dateline Hidden Camera Investigation'', a story using hidden cameras to focus on an issue of public concern; and ''Newsmakers'', light interviews with major figures in politics, entertainment, and business, as well as regular people in the news. The program also included cross-promotional segments with [[Court TV]] and magazines ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'', ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'' and ''[[Consumer Reports]]''. In the 1990s, a common week would feature several "signature segments," breaking news, updates on past stories shown on the program, multi-part investigations, and interviews.<ref name=eot /> ''Dateline'' also pioneered the use of viewer feedback including telephone polling and a unique format, the "Interactive ''Dateline'' Mystery," where viewers voted (similar to ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'') on where the story should go next.<ref>{{cite web|title=With viewers' help, 'Dateline' reports on murder |url=http://brainerddispatch.com/stories/010601/nne_0106010011.shtml |author=FRAZIER Mooreap |newspaper=[[Brainerd Dispatch]] |publisher=BrainerdDispatch.com |location=[[Brainerd, Minnesota]] |date=January 6, 2001 |access-date=December 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603210747/http://brainerddispatch.com/stories/010601/nne_0106010011.shtml |archive-date=June 3, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref>

In 2019, taking advantage of the recent popularity of true crime [[Podcast|podcasts]] such as ''[[Serial (podcast)|Serial]]'', and as part of a larger push into the medium by the division, NBC News launched a ''Dateline'' podcast; the podcast launched with the seven-episode story ''13 Alibis''. ''Dateline'' producers stated that the podcast stories would be able to go more in-depth on topics than the television series, and did not rule out other types of content—including audio-only versions of stories from its archives, as well as extensions and updates to stories from the television series. In August 2022, when the podcast launched a premium subscription on [[Apple Podcasts]], the ''Dateline'' podcast had 775 million downloads, and was ranked as the sixth-largest podcast in the U.S. by Podtrac.''<ref>{{Cite news |title=How NBC's 'Dateline' took back its true-crime throne |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/01/28/dateline-nbc-podcast-true-crime/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guaglione |first=Sara |date=2022-08-29 |title=How Dateline NBC looks to grow its podcast business with Apple |url=https://digiday.com/media/how-dateline-nbc-looks-to-grow-its-podcast-business-with-apple/#:~:text=Dateline%20moved%20into%20the%20podcast,certain%20number%20of%20commercial%20breaks. |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Digiday |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Brian |date=2019-05-16 |title=NBC's 'Dateline' Will Press Into Podcasts (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/dateline-podcasts-nbc-news-13-alibis-1203216886/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>