Tuesday September 11th, 2001: 9:00am on NBC
The biggest thing I noticed about the coverage at this time was that it no longer showed the reporters speaking, it only showed the live videos of the burning Twin Towers. We were still able to hear them talking, but it appears the main priority was showing viewers what was happening. Also, we heard emotional eye-witness accounts of what was happening as well. At this point in time everyone was still very unsure of what was happening, so the news was not as organized as it usually is. The is due to the fact that most of the facts were coming in while the reporters were live on the air. There was a lot of interruption, clarification, and emotional reactions.
Tuesday September 11th, 2001: 9:00am on BBC
Again, here the coverage at this time no longer showed the reporters speaking–it was just voice-over with live videos of the burning Twin Towers. The biggest difference here to me was that on this station, the reporters were much less emotional. They spoke in a calm, very factual tone of voice. The only sense of emotion I heard was the eye-witnesses account. Another difference is that this station seemed to be a bit delayed. For example, on NBC, when the second plane crashed, the reporters responded almost immediately. But on BBC, nothing was said about the second plane crashing until almost a whole minute after it was caught on video, and even then, all that was said was that it appeared that the second tower was ablaze as well.
Monday September 17th, 2001: 9:00am on NBC
The first thing I noticed when watching this segment was that we saw the reporters’ faces again. The news flowed much more smoothly, and they were back to using previously recorded stories. The reporting seemed to have gone back to normal. Because several days had passed since the incident of 9/11, the reporters were much less emotional, and more factual. The stories were still about 9/11, but they focused not on the tragedy itself but on America getting back on its feet.
Monday September 17th, 2001: 9:00am on BBC
This segment was very similar to NBC’s. We saw the reporters’ faces again, and there were stories that were already prepared. The segment flowed smoothly, and seemed to be back in the normal reporting format. Again, the reporting was less emotional and more factual, and was more about America rising up from the ashes.