10th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks

[Point of Order]

Is it way to early to start a thread on the 10th anniversary of 9/11? Why hell yes it is. But MSNBC is already running promos for their 9/11 special, called "Day of Destruction, Decade of War" so why not us. So, it will be on a Sunday this year, which for most of the working public means no moment of silence or other recognition at work. I suppose for the church-going it will be a big topic, and Sunday newspaper sales might get a slight bump. Of course, most sports journos will be working just as they do most every other holiday.

What other significance do you see? Should we make it a federal holiday? (I think so just because I think we have the fewest recognized holidays of any developed country, but coming the week after Labor Day would probably be a logistical/mental [just too close together] problem for employers). Are the other nets running 9/11 promos already? Will you do anything to commemorate the day?

 

[YGBFKM]

A holiday?

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

If Pearl Harbor was never made a holiday, this shouldn't be either.

 

[Starman]

If Pearl Harbor was never made a holiday, this shouldn't be either.

Ditto x 1000.

If any day should be a holiday, it's the day Osama took a bullet to the brain.

 

[Point of Order]

If Pearl Harbor was never made a holiday, this shouldn't be either.

Ditto x 1000.

I'd be for adding both.

 

[Small Town Guy]

The new New York Magazine is dedicated entirely to Sept. 11. There's the obligatory Frank Rich column but then it's a Sept. 11 Encyclopedia, the tragedy A-Z and it's amazing. It might be a bit much going through it online, but if you get a chance pick up the magazine.

http://nymag.com/news/articles/wtc/

 

[LongTimeListener]

Can't wait to see what the Times comes up with. They've been planning the 10-year anniversary section since Sept. 12, 2001.

 

[DanOregon]

Anniversaries of notable events are the mothers milk of journalism. News managers love them because they can plan for them weeks and months out and give them something to do at their meetings.
Obviously this is a big one, no event in my lifetime has cast as long shadows as 9/11 even thousands of miles away from Ground Zero.
We still have troops overseas, we're still trying to figure out how to pay for it...I wonder if anyone is going to do an essay on post-9/11 life in America asking the question "Was it worth it?" The cost in lives and dollars, the increased security measures, the PATRIOT Act, all of it. There really isn't an easy answer to that question.
I'd also like to see a Where are they Now - the retired firefighter standing with President Bush, the dopes who sent powdered envelopes to friends as a joke following the Anthrax scares, Johnny Taliban, the families of the fallen, the 9/11 widows, fathers and mothers and sons and daughters who have served...
I know I will be forever grateful for those who chose to step up at this critical time, well aware of the risks and conditions, but probably never imagining we would still be in Afghanistan fighting 10 years later.

 

[printdust]

What in the name of Osama's aquarium home will Fox and CBS do when they realize there's nothing more than four hours of coverage Sunday morning that they can give up?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

A holiday?

If the government didn't make it a holiday the year after the attacks, they're sure not going to make it now.

And if they ever did, I'm afraid it would become just be another day to have a barbecue or go see a movie.

 

[Cubbiebum]

Personally I will be trying to avoid all coverage but know full well I won't be able to resist.

As someone in his 20s, that event is the biggest one of its type in my life. It is the only national event that I remember every detail of the day it happened. With that, just seeing the images linked to it forever bother me emotionally.

I was just a sophomore in high school when it happened. I had just finished my final ISTEP of my life. The school chose not to tell us when the first plan hit because we had just an hour left before being done for the year. I remember the first hint of what was going on was when everyone was standing around talking waiting for the bell to ring. Out of 150 or so students I was one of only a dozen or so that heard the announcement over all the noise. It was our assistant principal saying, "To the sophomores who just finished testing, we have been bombed. Please go directly to your next class." Those of us who heard were all standing around trying to figure out if others heard the same thing.

Anyways, 9/11 stuff really bothers me but I can't turn away at the same time.

 

[Point of Order]

I would like to know where Aaron Brown is now. Remember that was his breakout moment on CNN and he was able to ride the wave for a few months. Also, Deborah Norville was supposed to be starting a 6 month sit-out due to a no-compete but instead she went from Fox (I think I have this right) on 9/10 to CNN on 9/11.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Anyone who voluntarily goes into Manhattan on 9/11 is beyond insane.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

It was my suggestion in 2001 that 9/11 be memorialized by making it Election Day in the U.S., as the original reasons for having it in November vanished over a century ago. We are no longer an agricultural society where the horse is the means of transportation.
This would have the added benefit of making most TV political ads go on the air in August, when everyone's out of the house and won't see them. But my main point is that it would be a nice way of stating our belief in our system whoever tries to knock it down.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Anniversaries of notable events are the mothers milk of journalism. News managers love them because they can plan for them weeks and months out and give them something to do at their meetings.

I used to love anniversary packages. I'd do them all the time and pitch them even more often. Mostly for exactly the reasons you state. Easy enterprise.

Chalk this up as in the category of Ways We Change. I had a later sports editor who thought they were arbitrary and not of great reader interest, and wanted us way more focused on what's happening now.

I don't think that they are terrible ideas, in that we do like to stop and take inventory of how we've changed and what impact events have had on us. And we think in years and benchmarks. But I think we probably overdo it as easy enterprise and content.

I also hate birthdays these days. Just another day to me. My wife and I clash about that all the time.

 

[BillyT]

A holiday?

There has been some discussion of making it a "National Day of Service," but logistically, it comes too close to Labor Day to add as a federal "Day of Remembrance."

I am gonna hate all of this. Yes, it's important, but it's still pretty easy -- especially on the local level -- to overdo important stuff.

 

[DanOregon]

http://911dayofservice.org/

I remember covering a campus-wide event at a local college where the school president asked the students to think about how they can make the world a better place. That phrase has always stuck with me.
You can't "mandate" service - and I'm sure it would only be a matter of time before we saw "Patriot's Day" sales with mattress combos available for $911.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Anyone who voluntarily goes into Manhattan on 9/11 is beyond insane.

Why is that?

Of course, some of us have no choice but to be in Manhattan that day. Doesn't worry me. I figure on THAT day, it's probably the safest place on the planet.

 

[shockey]

A holiday?

this.


some historical dates need not have 'holiday' attached to them to make sure people never forget. this was the modern pearl harbor. just as dec. 7 'lived in infamy' thereafter, so does and will 9/11. and the news packages that come as a result ARE important, even if a cynical few are weary of it. it's important not so much that WE never forget, 'cause anyone who was at least 5 or so is never likely to forget 9/11 or the weeks ollowing it.

it's important because every year there is a new audience of people coming of age who get to experience it -- or a sense of it -- who bring fresh eyes and ears to it. who are learnin about i all for the first time.

that's why these 'packages' and remembrances are vital, imo.

 

[DanOregon]

When news holes were bigger you could always count on a photo and a caption at least showing vets laying a wreath at Pearl Harbor in the Dec. 8th paper and a Kennedy or three kneeling in front of the eternal flame in the Nov. 23rd edition.

As for the 9/11 thing, check this out:
http://www.mediaite.com/columnists/wonderful-montage-shows-nearly-every-film-appearance-of-the-twin-towers/