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September 11, 2019 8:42 am  #1


What Was Spending 9/11 In A Newsroom Like?

I can’t believe it’s already been 18 years since that terrible day when everything changed. It seems like just weeks ago.
 
September 11th is one of those milestone events where nearly everybody of age remembers where they were or what they were doing when it happened. I was up early that morning doing some work from home and prepping for what lay ahead. In most cases, I had at least a radio on to hear the headlines, but for some reason on that day, and that day only, I turned everything off and was working in silence.
 
Around 8:47 AM, my phone rang. It was my second-in-command, already at the station, asking me if I’d heard that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. Incredibly, because I’d turned everything off, I hadn’t. I rushed downstairs, turned on my TV – I think it was on ABC from the night before – and promptly saw the second plane go into the building, removing all doubt about it being any kind of accident.
 
I rushed out of the house and the drive down to the newsroom was one of the longest I can ever remember, as local radio talk hosts (I think Bill Carroll was still doing mornings on 'RB) reported the latest and speculated whether Toronto would be another target, noting places like the CN Tower and the Eaton Centre were either being closed or put under extra scrutiny. The unease in the city was palpable, even from the front seat of my car.
 
By the time I got into work, it was just after 10 AM and the place was going crazy. It was orderly but insane. Since that day, a lot of people who know I work in a TV newsroom often say, “Wow, you must have had some day on 9/11! What was it like to be working there that day?”
 
And my answer surprises them.
 
I can’t remember.
 
Outside of the Towers collapsing and our normally glib anchor almost lost for words live on air, I have practically no memory of that very terrible, very long day. I got in by 10 in the morning and when I looked up, it was 11:30 at night. We were so busy, it’s basically a blur. I don’t remember eating anything or even taking a bathroom break. I know I was there. But it’s almost like I was somewhere else. I've since heard other news people say the same thing. 
 
Which oddly means my major memory of 9/11 in a TV newsroom, beyond the well known facts of that day, is not really remembering much about it at all. 

 

September 11, 2019 12:39 pm  #2


Re: What Was Spending 9/11 In A Newsroom Like?

I was on holidays that week and like many got the news on TV. Originally I had planned to go to New York that week to visit my brother. My itinerary had me going to the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. But I didn't go.


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

September 11, 2019 4:07 pm  #3


Re: What Was Spending 9/11 In A Newsroom Like?

Wow Dale, that's what I'd say was a close call!

I've often heard that Seth MacFarlane, who created "Family Guy" and "The Orville," among other shows, was late getting to the airport on Sept. 11, 2001 and just missed his plane from Boston. It was one of the jets that crashed into the WTC. 

Whenever I hear the theme song that states "Lucky there's a Family Guy," I realize just how true that is. 

     Thread Starter
 

September 11, 2019 5:28 pm  #4


Re: What Was Spending 9/11 In A Newsroom Like?

"Which oddly means my major memory of 9/11 in a TV newsroom, beyond the well known facts of that day, is not really remembering much about it at all."

I had exactly the same experience, RA, except in Radio. 

It may sound facile in wake of Dorian, but it was like being in the eye of a hurricane: all this stuff happening all around me while I was just trying to stayed focused to get the job done. I did it, but for the life of me, I don't know how.  

 

September 11, 2019 6:17 pm  #5


Re: What Was Spending 9/11 In A Newsroom Like?

It was a powerful day...the memories etched on everyone's mind to this day..everyone having different memories, but the same feelings...

Dan Rather was sobbing on the David Letterman Show if you recall...here is Dan, talking about that very day and how it affected him...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ddVz-E5fsM
 


The world would be so good if it weren't for some people...
 

September 11, 2019 6:59 pm  #6


Re: What Was Spending 9/11 In A Newsroom Like?

Lots of memories...  I had just finished a week of afternoon shifts, so I was on days off... and no where near the studio...

Our two youngest (twins) started kindergarten that morning...  my wife and I had just returned home from dropping them off at their school.  I had turned the TV on, she wanted to watch Regis and Kathy (and I wanted to poke my left eye out)...  after the second jet stuck the other tower, ABC News broke in with live coverage.

A neighbor on our street had been in the Canadian Armed Forces (finished his tour and dis-charged) but I remember him telling me that even though he had been out for six years, he could still be re-activated in the event of a national crisis...

Remember the constant use of the clip of Bush blaming Canada.... "Well, we know they (terrorists) came from Canada"  In fact, the terrorist pilots received their ground school and fixed wing flight lessons in Florida.  details....

I also remember a clip that ran frequently in the ABC news coverage...  a man wearing a jacket with some sort of US agency crest or logo on it...  "Well we knew this was going to happen...  We had advance notice, We heard chatter".   ABC used the clip of that man extensively over a couple of days...  then it was pulled, gone....  and apparently, so was the individual.