Ann Curry Trapped in New York Times Elevator for One Well-Documented Hour - Ann Curry - Gawker

Source: Gawker

What happens when a group of social media freaks—including Ann Curry—get trapped in an elevator? It is electronically recorded and broadcast over the internet at near-dizzying speed. Welcome to the most thoroughly documented elevator entrapment ever.

Today, after a Times-hosted panel on social media & Haiti, Ann Curry got stuck in the Times' building elevator. The ensuing events constitute a textbook example of how "the crowd" beats Old Media in covering breaking news. EVEN IN THEIR OWN HOUSE.

To read the rest, hop over to Gawker.

Tomorrow Viacom's MTV Networks Presents 'Hope for Haiti,' an Earthquake Relief Global Telethon... -- NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ --

Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting Will Appear in New York City;

Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, and a Group Performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles;

Coldplay, and a Group Performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in London

All Performances to be Available for Purchase from Apple(R) iTunes(R) Store with Proceeds Benefiting Select Haiti Relief Funds

More than One Hundred of the Biggest Names in Film, Television, and Music to Appear on "Hope for Haiti Now," Along with Wyclef Jean in New York City, George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN's Anderson Cooper in Haiti Additional Television, Online, and Mobile Partners Make "Hope for Haiti Now" the Most Widely Distributed Global Telethon in History

NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, and LONDON, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief," today announced its lineup of superstar musical performances. The global telethon will feature performances by Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting in New York City; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; and Coldplay, and a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in a newly added London location. All musical performances will be available for purchase for $.99 per song through the Apple® iTunes® Store beginning Saturday, January 23, with all proceeds benefiting Haiti relief funds managed by "Hope for Haiti Now" charities.

In addition to musical performances, Wyclef Jean in New York City, George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN's Anderson Cooper reporting from Haiti, "Hope for Haiti Now" will feature more than one hundred of the biggest names in film, television, and music supporting the cause with testimonials and by answering phones during the telethon.

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and United Nations World Food Programme have joined the list of relief organizations that will benefit from "Hope for Haiti Now," which also includes Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, and Yele Haiti Foundation. Proceeds from "Hope for Haiti Now" will be split evenly among each organization's individual funds for Haiti earthquake relief.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will be the most widely distributed telethon in history, both internationally and across media platforms. The two-hour telethon will air on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, and CMT on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and 7:00 p.m. CT. “Hope for Haiti Now” will also air on newly added networks including PBS, TNT, Showtime, COMEDY CENTRAL, Bravo, E! Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, CENTRIC, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, EPIX, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green, and Canadian networks including CBC Television, CTV, Global Television, and MuchMusic. The event will be live streamed online globally across sites including YouTube, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN.com, Yahoo, Bing.com, BET.com, CNN.com, MTV.com, VH1.com, and Rhapsody and on mobile via Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and FloTV. "Hope for Haiti Now" will also air internationally on BET International, CNN International, National Geographic, and MTV Networks International, which is available in 640 million homes worldwide. "Hope for Haiti Now" will be the first U.S.-based telethon airing on MTV in China. Facebook and Twitter have signed on as official social media partners to help drive donations and tune-in to the telethon.

Based on production needs and venue sizes, all "Hope for Haiti Now" studio locations will be closed to the media. Photos, pool video footage and talent interviews from "Hope for Haiti Now" will be serviced to news outlets immediately following the event.

"Hope for Haiti Now" is produced by Joel Gallen and Tenth Planet Productions, in collaboration with Viacom's MTV Networks and George Clooney.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom ( VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 400 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, SPIKE, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers, and Xfire.

SOURCE MTV Networks

Wyclef livestreams his press conference and makes a global plea for help

Wyclef just concluded a press conference for his organization Yele that began at 2pm EST. During the conference, he made a personal plea to the world to aid efforts for a max exodus out of the devastated areas of Haiti to safer and secure areas, much like what we saw for Katrina.

The press conference was streamed live and had thousands of people watching and commenting on Facebook, Twitter and in the chat room. He also made a compelling plea in his native language, in which he began crying. It's obvious that he is hurting for his people, like most of the world is right now. They also took time to briefly address some of the rumors and accusations that have run rampant on the internet and through media about his organizations intentions.

It's sad that during this desperate time of need, a sincere humanitarian and global ambassador for his country has to take time to address these unfavorable and hurtful statements made against him. As a PR professional, I appreciated the time that his staff took to disclose and claim full ownership for some of the bad decisions that the organization made in the past. They also are offering financial and tax statements for the media that will prove that they've recently caught up on some of the legal filings that non-profits like his are supposed to submit on a yearly basis.

Watch live streaming video from clefzonemedia at livestream.com

Celebrities Will Meet at Sundance Film Festival to Address the Haiti Earthquake Crisis

Moviemakers And Celebrities Mobilize At The Tweet House During The Sundance Film Festival To Aid The People Of Haiti

The “Tweet House” Will Serve As A Central Hub During The 2010 Sundance Film Festival Establishing A Gathering Place and Forum to Raise Awareness and Funds for Haiti

(Park City, UT – January 14, 2010) In response to the powerful earthquake that has devastated the island of Haiti, the “Tweet House” which is being hosted in Park City during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, is offering a virtual and physical event called “The Celebrity Tweetup for Haiti”. The Tweetup will be held at The Tweet House, located at the SHOP Yoga Studio in Park City, Utah on Saturday, January 23rd from 5 to 7pm.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this crisis,” said LeVar Burton, of Burton/Wolfe Entertainment and co-host of the Tweetup, “I know from experience that members of the entertainment community can be counted on at times like this, and my partners and I are dedicated to doing what we can”.

During the Tweetup, the hosts are inviting talent and other Sundance Festival attendees to gather and “Tweet” messages encouraging their followers to make donations to the organizations that are accepting funds related to the Haitian disaster. Proceeds raised from corporate sponsors of the event will be earmarked to benefit the victims.

“We had originally scheduled a Tweetup hosted by LeVar where celebrities could message about their favorite charities,” said Steve Broback of the Parnassus Group, who is organizing the event. “With the recent happenings, we felt compelled to focus exclusively on the pressing needs of the Haitian people.”

More information can be found at the official Web site for the Tweet House: http://www.tweetforhaiti.org

BURTON/WOLFE ENTERTAINMENT was formed in 2009 by principals’ actor/director LeVar Burton and producer Mark Wolfe. The company is dedicated to developing quality productions utilizing all avenues of entertainment, including digital, feature film, television, 3D and the Web. Burton Wolfe Entertainment promises to deliver quality entertainment wherever audiences gather.

THE PARNASSUS GROUP is a Redmond-based technology consultancy that produces events and provides brand monitoring and reporting services.