9/11, JFK AND THE AGE OF TV
11/4/07
On a warm morning in early fall, reports came in over the news wires that a tragedy had struck New York. Cameras raced to the World Trade Center to cover the breaking story of a plane carrying nearly 100 people that had somehow managed to crash into the North tower.
Carol Lin from CNN, the first broadcaster to cover the crash, said “ we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center... clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan.” While networks were still scrambling to get to the scene, a second plane crashed into the South tower only 17 minutes later. What was originally deemed a horrible accident was now determined to be a massive and wide-spread assassination.
While all of the nation’s televisions were focused on New York City, the perpetrators of the attacks were focused on other destinations. Little more than half an hour after the second crash, a third plane attacked the Pentagon, and a fourth, destined for the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
Within hours, both towers collapsed. In his article What We Saw: How September 11 looked on TV, University of Notre Dame professor William O’Rourke said, “The towers falling on live TV were like Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald on live television, a coda so final and devastating that it elevated the event even further into the realm of the fantastic and mythical.”
O’Rourke was not the only one to notice the similarities of people’s reactions between the World Trade Center attacks and the assassination of President Kennedy. Almost anyone in the world can repeat, in chilling detail, exactly what they were doing when they first heard the horrifying news of either event. “The parallels are everywhere, including the fact that the networks and cable news went commercial-free for four days, just as television broadcasting did when JFK was killed.”
If anyone doubted the incomparable reach of television in the early 21st century, the coverage of the September 11th attacks and aftermath solidified its position. A quote made during those dark and unforgettable days 0f 2001 sums it up perfectly: “News is now a nationwide cram session, all-nighters for the general public… for the last few weeks the country has learned where the "-stans" are on the map of the world, and more about Islam and its subsets than 99 percent of us ever knew before.”
9/11, JFK and TV aside, if you ever needed to be reminded of the tragic events, here is an excellent archive of news stories and background information, multimedia, video gallery, slide show, links and timeline.
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Reader Comments (2)
Yeah i remember that day very well* I was up early for a change + online + a Buddy o mine Emailed me saying a Plane has just Crashed into the WTC + Your Next! Well i wasn't exactly sure what the heck he'd been Smokin' at 8 in da morning but I decided to go out to the Living Room + flickr the TV on* I couldn't believe my eyes!! + then I saw the 2nd plane fly into the other Tower it was just beyond all belief* I was in complete shock* Later that afternoon it was my friend Trish Rogers Birthday so a bunch of us all met on the Black Bull Patio on Queen St. West in the heart of downtown Toronto + it was so eerily quiet - all the Big Office Towers 3 Blocks away had Emptied out + 1 other thing i noticed was the Starbucks had a CLOSED Sign on it* Obviously there were a lot of Fears of other High Rise Towers or American Targets being Hit* just bizarre* I do feel in hindsight that US Intelligence ie the CIA + FBI + Law Agencies were completely ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH!! These Clowns tried to blow up the WTC already in what 1992 + they Hit the USS Cole earlier - We knew goddam well these bastards were comin' after us* No excuse for this shit - these Clowns get Paid to do what? sit on their Fat Asses + Drink Coffee + Eat Donuts!! Pathetic*
BW...you are right! It's akin to flipping the switch to your home security at nights. You think you are safe but are you really? It's a scary thought...