Among the thoughts that crowded my mind as I watched the horror of Tuesdays terrorist attacks unfold were two related to the media. One was admiration for the speed and general quality of TV coverage in the first hours following an incident that was and is a nightmare for the journalists who are covering it. The other was a deep sense of potential danger ahead as the nations shock turns to fear and extraordinary anger looking for an outlet. From my narrow perspective, the media handled its first challenge, of reporting what happened, with skill and mostly good judgment. My hope is that it can handle the second challenge as well, so as not to fuel misdirected passions for revenge.
I happened to be visiting NBCs Rockefeller Center offices in New York on Tuesday, and first heard the news within minutes of the attack. Soon I was sitting in a room with five televisions, each tuned to a different network, eyes flitting from one to another as the picture changed or some new report emerged from the tickers at the bottom of almost every screen. Unconfirmed reports about hijacked airliners being used in the attacks were subsequently confirmed. Street reporters, some still covered in dust and debris because of their proximity to the tragedy, nevertheless were remarkably controlled as they gave their extemporaneous accounts. (The most significant error I saw early on was the report, later proved incorrect, that a car bomb had gone off at the State Department.)
As the hours pass, and the pace of documented revelations about this incident slows, an army of journalists will be trying to explain what happened. They should stick to the facts.
Having previously worked in countries where news of airplane crashes or major industrial accidents was suppressed or manipulated, I was once more reminded of how well, by contrast, the press in this country is capable of doing its job of providing the important information that its citizens need.
Who’s responsible?
Inevitably, there was speculation over the identity of the group or groups behind the attacks. Clearly, one of the most important facts to be determined at this point is: Who was responsible? The list of suspects reported in those first hours Tuesday was almost exclusively Arab and/or Islamic much as it was in the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing for which American Timothy McVeigh was eventually executed.
