President Obama Will Test His Survival Skills on a Reality TV Show

It won't be just White House press corps cameras covering President Barack Obama during his trip to Alaska this week. NBC announced the commander in chief will trek through the Alaskan wilderness with survival expert Bear Grylls for a special edition of his show Running Wild.

Obama will meet with Grylls while visiting Alaska to observe the effects of climate change. The president will then get a crash course in survival techniques from Grylls. The visit will be taped and aired on NBC later this year.

Now in its second season, Running Wild follows Grylls as he takes America's biggest celebrities on one-on-one adventures that test their survival skills. With a strong lead-in from American Ninja Warrior, Running Wild has consistently won its 10 p.m. ET time slot among viewers ages 18 to 49 this summer.

This is just the latest example of the White House tapping alternative media to get its message out. In June, Obama appeared on Marc Maron's popular WTF podcast. And in January, the White House and Google assembled a digital media day, inviting several YouTube stars to Washington to interview the president, with some hilarious results.