September 11th all day long
The channel surfers among you probably noticed that all day MSNBC has been airing large chunks of NBC’s broadcast from the morning of September 11th, 2001. I’m curious how most people react to this. I find it pretty riveting, although I could do without the teasers before each commercial.
Six years ago, I was asleep for a while after the towers fell, but I was certainly glued to the television for many days afterward. I think this was partially because my highschool was very close to Ground Zero. I was also glued to the TV during hurricane Katrina though, so I guess I’m just a cable news kind of guy.
One of the most striking things about watching the rebroadcast of NBC’s coverage is how little the newscasters know. The reporters are obviously in shock, but they also have very little idea what’s really happening. In a lot of ways, I think this feeling still survives today.
The details of September 11th have long since been filled in, but as a country, we’re still shaken. We know that we were attacked six years ago, but we really have no idea what our current threat of terrorism is. We don’t know if September 11th is part of a larger trend, nor do we know if our “War on Terrorism” has been at all effective.
Watching NBC’s news coverage six years later, I’m surprised by how unable we are to put the attacks in perspective. It’s still to soon, and in terms of terrorism at least, we still don’t have much perspective.
As for the anniversary of the attack, USA Today says it’s on its way to becoming just another calendar date. “The Nation’s Newspaper” indeed.