Media Coverage of September 11: 6 years later
Miami faculty relate reportage of tragedy to other defining moments
Laura Bryant, Laura Houser and Megan Weiland
Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: Front Page
It was a Tuesday morning, and all over the country American eyes were glued to television sets.
Six years ago today 2,974 people were killed when four hijacked planes crashed into American soil.
That was 2001.
"When I woke up that morning after finishing my exercises, I turned on CNN just in time to see the second plane crashing into the tower," said John Rothgeb, professor of political science at Miami University and author of the book U.S. Trade Policy. "I thought that the (news) coverage was reasonable under the circumstances. They weren't trying to create more alarm than necessary."
In the years since the attack, national newspapers have published special editions, 24-hour cable networks have kept the public informed with a streaming news ticker, and photos of the two crumbling towers have been circulated around the World Wide Web.
However, soon stories of personal experiences and plans for rebuilding were replaced by anxious coverage of the impending War on Terror-with mixed results.
According to a Knight Ridder and Princeton Research poll in 2002, a large segment of the American public still remained misinformed about many of the issues surrounding September 11, especially who to blame.
"Since the invasion was launched, not much has been done to investigate," Rothgeb said. "Especially on networks such as the History Channel-they linked Saddam Hussein directly to the attack and the media played to that idea."
Director of journalism at Miami, Richard Campbell, said he believes the reason for this type of coverage is that immediately after September 11, media coverage, combined with the political climate of the times, created a "culture of fear," especially for journalists.
"Newspapers were afraid of being called unpatriotic," Campbell said.
However, Campbell believes it is the media's job to ask questions and to investigate claims made by the government-not to be complacent.
"I think you're patriotic if you're holding the government's feet to the fire," Campbell said.
Six years ago today 2,974 people were killed when four hijacked planes crashed into American soil.
That was 2001.
"When I woke up that morning after finishing my exercises, I turned on CNN just in time to see the second plane crashing into the tower," said John Rothgeb, professor of political science at Miami University and author of the book U.S. Trade Policy. "I thought that the (news) coverage was reasonable under the circumstances. They weren't trying to create more alarm than necessary."
In the years since the attack, national newspapers have published special editions, 24-hour cable networks have kept the public informed with a streaming news ticker, and photos of the two crumbling towers have been circulated around the World Wide Web.
However, soon stories of personal experiences and plans for rebuilding were replaced by anxious coverage of the impending War on Terror-with mixed results.
According to a Knight Ridder and Princeton Research poll in 2002, a large segment of the American public still remained misinformed about many of the issues surrounding September 11, especially who to blame.
"Since the invasion was launched, not much has been done to investigate," Rothgeb said. "Especially on networks such as the History Channel-they linked Saddam Hussein directly to the attack and the media played to that idea."
Director of journalism at Miami, Richard Campbell, said he believes the reason for this type of coverage is that immediately after September 11, media coverage, combined with the political climate of the times, created a "culture of fear," especially for journalists.
"Newspapers were afraid of being called unpatriotic," Campbell said.
However, Campbell believes it is the media's job to ask questions and to investigate claims made by the government-not to be complacent.
"I think you're patriotic if you're holding the government's feet to the fire," Campbell said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
mthomason
MT 2004
posted 9/11/07 @ 4:15 AM EST
Some interesting things here. This first page is hinting at something, but it won't come out and say it. It says, "a large segment of the American public still remained misinformed about many of the issues surrounding September 11, especially who to blame. (Continued…)
Custom Papers
posted 7/28/09 @ 8:43 AM EST
I must admit that it is really nice article!!!
Neil Patrick
posted 11/05/09 @ 12:28 AM EST
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Interested Alum
posted 11/06/09 @ 4:03 PM EST
If you're one of those "special" people who know the real truth about who was responsible for the attacks on 9/11, assuage your fears by going to this site:
http://www. (Continued…)
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