When does a two-car crash become a national story? When a television reporter on the scene continues with her live shot on another story while not even flinching.
News Channel 8's Adrienne Pedersen found herself in this precarious situation early Wednesday morning. While reporting on rising gas prices at a Shell gas station on West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa, a taxi and car crashed behind her, prompting some interesting conversation with in-studio anchor Gayle Guyardo and national attention from several media outlets – including NBC's "Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
News of the incident spread quickly. Well-wishers flocked to Pedersen's @AdrienneWFLA Twitter account to send well-wishes, posted messages on her Facebook page, and the video itself became a viral sensation.
Several national and international news organizations picked up on the story, including NBC News, ABC News, Yahoo, Huffington Post, Media Bistro, Jim Rome – who addressed it on his national radio show – and even the U.K. Daily Mail.
And the video spread quickly on Twitter and Facebook.
But perhaps the greatest visibility was reached Wednesday night, when Leno featured the clip in a segment called "Missing the Real Story."
He was poking fun, of course, but the "real story" is how Pedersen's morning duties have become an overnight hit.
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