Posted on 09/05/2002 8:24:53 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
NEW YORK—On Sept. 11, 2002, Americans will sort through emotions ranging from anger to grief, pain, and a profound sense of loss. But while the day will surely be difficult to endure, it remains unclear which television network will rise to the occasion, with its sensitive, cathartic anniversary coverage helping us decide what to feel while bringing a sense of closure to our national period of mourning.
Will it be a major network like CBS that heals us, salving our wounds with its around-the-clock, Dan Rather-hosted coverage? Or will it be a cable channel like CNN, its crack team of veteran telejournalists guiding us to a place of rebirth and renewal as only a 24-hour news network can? Or will it be a surprise young upstart like MTV, speaking to our hearts in a way foreign to its stodgier counterparts?
"When we're doing our jobs right, we're not merely reporting the news; we're helping viewers cope with the grief and pain in their lives," ABC News president David Westin said. "That is one of the central purposes of any newsgathering organization, and never will that be clearer than on Sept. 11."
"Now more than ever, we are a nation undivided," Fox News Channel senior producer Tom Bird said. "From the simple farm houses dotting the Iowa countryside to the condominium complexes of Los Angeles to the rustic cabins of Cape Cod, on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Americans will be huddled in front of their TV sets to assuage their grief and testify to their patriotism. And Fox News Channel will be right there with a shoulder to cry on."
All told, an estimated 800 hours of Sept. 11 retrospectives, memorials, and clips packages will air on more than 50 channels, including TNN, ESPN, and Oxygen. An estimated 200 million Americans are expected to tune in to at least some portion of the day's programming.
Diane Blauvelt, whose husband Nathan died in the attack on the Pentagon, said she looks forward to the all-day coverage.
It's been an incredibly hard year for me," Blauvelt said. "At times, I didn't think I could endure the grief. But I kept telling myself, 'Diane, just hang on until this coming Sept. 11, and the networks will make it all better.' That's the only thing that got me through."
Added Blauvelt: "I can't tell you how healing it will be to once again see that footage of the smoldering Pentagon where my Nathan died."
"We as a nation need to experience some sort of closure," said Marcy McGinnis, CBS senior vice-president of news coverage. "And no one needs that more than the people who lost loved ones on Sept. 11. They will never forget what happened, but they need to move on and feel whole again. They need the sort of tasteful tribute montage set to Bruce Springsteen's 'Empty Sky' that we've got planned at CBS." "How are we to memorialize an event of such unspeakably horrific proportions?" Fox News senior producer Jeff Kent asked. "How can we eulogize those whose deaths we can scarcely comprehend? Well, Fox is giving it a shot with the two-hour special The Day America Changed. I think you're going to like what you see."
In what may be the most touching display of caring, ABC News anchor Peter Jennings will host a question-and-answer session for children.
"Just imagine how confusing this all must be for the children," Westin said. "Thank goodness Peter will be there for them, from 3 to 4 p.m. EST."
Lawrence Crouch, a media-studies professor at Syracuse University, said the Sept. 11 anniversary coverage will stand as a shining example of the healing power of television.
"Will the answer to the nation's woes come in the form of a CNN special memorializing that tragic day? Or a Katie Couric interview with an emotional Rudy Giuliani, live from Ground Zero?" Crouch asked. "Are our hours of personal reflection better spent ruminating on the fate of those lost by watching an interview with a firefighter's widow, or by celebrating our living heroes with a rousing musical salute? It's a toss-up, but my money is on NBC's Concert For America. I understand they have Alan Jackson on board."
According to NBC News senior producer Alan Koslow, TV news plays a vital role in Americans' lives.
"In the past, someone like Walter Cronkite merely informed. But in this day and age, Tom [Brokaw] and his fellow news anchors do so much more," Koslow said. "They function as parent, friend, teacher, social worker, grief counselor, and spiritual advisor. That's a lot of pressure considering they also have ratings to think about."
"Some people ask how a bunch of network executives can decide whether America should continue to mourn or get back to regular life," Koslow continued. "Well, it's very complicated and involves a lot of research and data the average person would never understand."
One of those average people, Chicago-area homemaker Adrienne Coffey, said she knows exactly where she will be at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11.
"I want to share the day with others who are feeling what I'm feeling," Coffey said. "I'm going to be right there in front of the TV." *
*(The Onion uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases where public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.)
Good satire always is.
Don't be too quick to overlook verses 3 and 4:
O! say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming:
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming,
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
Oh! say, does that Star-spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam --
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream;
'Tis the Star-spangled Banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave.
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave!
And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Bless'd with victory and peace, may our Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just --
And this be our motto -- "In God is our trust!"
And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
I'll bet back on Dec 7, 1942, there wasn't a display like yesterday's handwringing. Sorry, but too me, it was pathetic.
When I was a 13 year old boy in 1961, my father went off to work (on a Saturday), and on his way back home, stopped his car on a bridge and jumped off to his death. My brother, sister, and me were in school the following Monday....no flourishing, self-agrandizing counselling industry then......just a good, caring family getting things done, getting through the sadness.
I feel for the families and friends of the victims of WTC, but, enough is enough. This concentration on grief and suffering and the 'CLOSURE' trap is just too much to take. Back in WWII they were not sitting around feeling sorry for themselves in December of '42. They were getting down to business. This 'me generation' is too much to take. We should be getting down to business too ! Enough crying, frustration, and self-pity. This is a somewhat shameful display!
p.s. If we're going to make suc a gaudy display over WTC, what's with the families and friends of the helpless victims of OKC? Where's the justice?
I'm with you. The theraptutic culture of psychobabble is deeply entrenched in contemporary American popular culture. It's not pretty.
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