I've been a fan of the Seattle-based Web 2.0 news site Newsvine since it launched a few years back. Recently the site was acquired by MSNBC, bringing together arguably the best mainstream online news organization with arguably the best independent online news site.

Last week, the two forces produced that type of innovation you would expect. Nightly.newsvine.com is a conversation-focused page based on NBC-TV's Nightly News with Brian Williams. Visitors can ask questions of the anchor and - get this - he answers some in a candid, unrehearsed video response following the national broadcast of his show.

Here's how Newsvine CEO Mike Davidson described it in his blog:

News agency broadcasts the news -> audience discusses the content -> audience shoots back questions to the anchor -> anchor answers (select) questions right on the site

Maybe I’m biased because this is partly my baby, but I just think that is super cool, and super significant.

I also think it’s great that Brian — probably the most recognized face in U.S. National news — answers all questions off the cuff, with no teleprompter, and with a level of frankness you don’t often see on national news broadcasts. In responding to one of the questions, he even mentions his political affiliation (independent), which is rare for news personalities to do.

NOTE: OK, so that's two consecutive MSNBC-related posts on this blog. We now resume our regularly scheduled (and South Sound-based) programming.