September 11, 2001: WUSA (CBS News). Washington D.C. 8:50-9:00AM EDT
The coverage window begins with CBS covering a story about a woman, Sandra Posey, who has just received a brand new home from Fleetwood; this appears to be the most recent segment of “A Week of Wishes”. Overall, the mood of the news seems to be typically light-hearted, and the tone of newscaster covering the stories reflects this; she narrates the footage with a calm, soft voice. The coverage of “A Week of Wishes” progresses in a quick, yet casual manner as a woman named Donna is helped fulfill a promise she had made to her late husband to scatter his ashes in South Dakota. It continues to show an elderly man named Scott Butler fulfilling his dream to see Pearl Harbor in person before he died; Scott was also made an honorary member of the Kentucky State police, even being promoted to Colonel by the Governor himself. It is difficult not to drown in the pathological appeal made by the segment. All kidding aside, it seems like just another morning where a local news station is trying to showcase material that encourages viewers to persevere through the daily struggles in their own lives. At 8:52AM EDT. The tone of the show immediately shifts into high gear as the breaking news out of New York comes in about the North Tower being struck by a plane. Bryan Gumbell proceeds hastily, attempting to inform the viewers as much as possible in the shortest time. He maintains control of his voice and presentation, however, you can tell on closer observation that he is clearly perturbed by what he is seeing. The coverage of the event itself is almost entirely centered on one image of the North Tower burning. The station does not dare shift the attention away from the World Trade Centers. The true gravity of the situation did not strike me until CBS entirely cut off one of the commercials that are supposed to run at regular intervals throughout the show. Since I know from outside discussions how much money and time are allotted to marketing products and services, I knew that when a major new station immediately stops airing one in order to continue coverage that this was indeed serious. Gumbell tries to proceed and interviews an eyewitness; the man attempts to recall what happened as best he can but in the chaos of the moment and hindered by a semi-distant vantage point, he is unable to provide much reliable information. Gumbell rapidly transitions to another eyewitness who is in the lobby of his hotel, which is directly between both of the Trade Centers. You can hear him scribbling notes down as the witnesses recount what they saw. During the graphic account told by the second witness, you can hear sirens wailing in the background. Both the frantic pace of the interviews and their content significantly contribute to the surreal aura surrounding the whole scene; even though my family and I watched the broadcast live on FOX (albeit at a different time), it does not seem like this could actually be happening.
September 11, 2001: BBC (BBC World). London, England. 8:50-9:00AM EDT
The broadcast segment begins with coverage of sports, beginning with the local Soccer teams and eventually scoping out to detail sports play from across the pond. To my surprise, the universe thought it would be funny to include some coverage of the then (and oddly enough, now) defending NFC Champion New York Giants, who happen to be my favorite NFL squad. The bit of familiarity served to settle me even though it was a bit uncomfortable watching a new news station for the first time. Unfortunately, the Giants managed to lose game they showed (i.e. settled feeling = gone).The news progressed in a much more efficient manner compared to CBS. In fairness, CBS focused its coverage on a single story at this time, whereas BBC seemed to be wrapping up the past hour of news at the top of the hour drew near. BBC also used a text slideshow to cover some of the less urgent stories. This served to inform the reader of what was important while not over stressing the significance of some less pressing matters. As they transition to the coverage of the plane crashing into the North tower, the mood shifts from a more formal, business attitude, to that of a somber, stunned tone. It seem like the BBC reporters as just as shocked as the Americans are. They voice over video of the smoking tower and narrate what the viewers are seeing. I wonder if they are doing this in order to mask their own uncertainty, and to keep the viewers as calm as possible. Overall, the coverage by both BBC and CBS is loaded with uncertainty, as details are just now flooding in about the first crash. They both use narrated video footage to show and detail the story, as well as shroud their own uneasiness for the good of the audience.
September 17, 2001: WUSA (CBS News). Washington D.C. 8:50-9:00AM EDT
This segment contrasts with the earlier one on September 11th as the United States and her people are no longer caught off guard. Contrasting images of destruction and sadness, CBS opens the 8:50-9:00AM window by placing the emphasis on resiliency, and how the American people embody the term. The broadcast is laden with narrative elements meant to inspire hope .They show images of the memorials and tributes paid to the victims of 9/11 while playing inspirational music in the background. “God Bless America” and traditional Scottish bag pipes can be heard in the background as President Bush offers words of hope and victims recount the events of the day. The ethos and pathos on display are quite poignant, and are most effectively conveyed by the imagery, which provides a stark contrast of the apocalyptic scene with those of displaying Americans united under the duress. In addition, as “God Bless America” concludes, they show a powerful image of a golden star on top of an oscillating American flag along with the words: America Rising. At the same time, CBS shows how life still goes on even in the midst of great tragedy; the Patriotic montages are dispersed between coverage of local news.
September 17, 2001: BBC (BBC World). London, England. 8:50-9:00AM EDT
In contrast to the CBS coverage at the same time, the mood in the BBC broadcast that covers the events remains as one of solemn, reverence. The time frame begins with coverage of the New York City’s clean of effort. Unlike its United States counterpart, the BBC makes little effort to reassure its audience that everything is going to be alright. Instead, they stick to a more factual based evaluation of the situation; this is not to say that they are not sympathetic to the plight of the American people, in fact, considering that they are a foreign new source, this is understandable. The BBC coverage focuses primarily on covering the President Bush’s meeting with his cabinet on how to respond to the attack. Again, the reporting is relatively measured and provides a wealth of information. Instead of merely allowing images to dominate the broadcast, BBC provides in-depth narration of the circumstances interspersed with commentary from the participants. In other words, they utilize the vocal, logical appeal rather than the one centered on the pathos and ethos that the American station employs.