Understanding 9/11 Post Class Assignment

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., WJLA (Washington, D.C.)

The first thing I noticed about the broadcast from Washington D.C. was how calm and reassuring the anchor was while reporting on the tragedy. Each reporter seemed to be concerned, but not in panic; a majority of the reports were speculative and there were very few solid facts that could be confirmed by the news team. I chose to examine 9:40 a.m. for this feed because 9:40 was the time at which the Pentagon was struck by another hijacked airplane. I would’ve expected much more frantic field reporters and anchors considering that the most recent attack was so close by, but it seemed to be the opposite way. Mostly, reporters were more confused than shocked, in my opinion. Visually, there were no “talking heads”, but just a visual feed of the attack sites, with plumes of smoke rising from the damaged buildings. To me, this seemed to serve the purpose of emphasizing the victims and the overall emotion of the situation rather than the reporters simply telling viewers about the attacks.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., NEWSW (Canada)

Visually, the Canadian feed was almost identical to the Washington D.C. feed. No faces, just images of burning buildings. I found that the Canadian anchor seemed to be speaking much more quickly than the Washington D.C. anchor, and the reporting was more focused on facts rather than speculations over the motivations and groups behind the attacks.

Monday, September 17, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., WJLA (Washington, D.C.)

Because I chose 9:40 a.m. to examine again, the news feeds I investigated were almost entirely based around the economic impact of 9/11, due to September 17th being the first day that the NYSE was opened following the attacks. Right away, I noticed that the stories being reported on were being presented in a much more usual manner, with a balance of footage from the exchange itself and shots of the network reporters in the news room. Additionally, reporters were back to speaking with very little emotion, as were the people taking part in interviews of analysis of the stock market. The references to 9/11 were still very frequent, as one would expect, but it seemed that the narrative being presented was being presented in a much more normal way.

Monday, September 17, 2001 – 9:40 a.m., NEWSW (Canada)

Similar to the WJLA feed, the NEWSW feed was focused around the NYSE opening again; however, the news team was more focused on the stock market’s impact on Canada’s economy as well as how the attacks of 9/11 were impacting the Canadian political environment, discussing foreign policy changes and terrorist threats. Again, the reporters were back to speaking with little emotion, and the visual presentation was more conventional, with a mix of camera shots.

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