Opinion/Editorial: 9/11 Media Overkill
Written
September, 2002.
According to many people, the day the Twin Towers fell was a day that Americans, nay the world, won’t soon forget. If that’s true though, then why do we need constant reminders? Ever since last September, we’ve been bombarded by pictures, stories, articles and special events that have forced us to relive that terrible day. And why shouldn’t we be? The terrorist attack that killed thousands has changed the lives of many. It is a tragedy that struck the very heart of the Western World. According to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Journalism professor Peter Owens, “It would be foolish to belittle its [September 11] magnitude.” I couldn’t agree more with professor Owens. 9/11 was a truly horrible event that crushed many lives and should not be belittled. This does justify an overload of coverage on the same event in exactly the same fashion as a year earlier however. As we near the anniversary of 9/11, we are inundated with magazines, books, newspaper articles and stories which tell us the exact things we heard on that terrible day almost one year ago. I think this continual coverage of September 11th will ultimately have a negative effect on people and on our Western World.
A good writer can evoke feelings through his writing. A good story can stir emotions in readers. 9/11 was an event that stirred feelings in us all. The stories written about September 11th have done so as well. By continuing to tell the same story, we are continuing to stir the same intense emotions in people. As a result, people are still experiencing the lack of reasoning that comes with a surge of emotion. According to the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), teachers are concerned that because of 9/11, “many children across the state [of New York] - but especially students in New York City and its surrounding suburbs - will show lingering signs of stress as they head back to school this week.” With almost a year having passed, should students in the suburbs of the state of New York really be feeling this stress? Many of these students live nowhere near New York City, and have no reason to think they might be targeted by terrorists for any reason. Why are they scared? Without some distance from the event to allow us to think clearly, how can we be expected to look at the situation rationally and calmly? Any action taken in retaliation of 9/11, no matter how rash or dangerous, will be accepted and supported because people are blinded by their emotions. It’s time we gave ourselves the distance we need to look and think clearly about the attack on the World Trade Centers.
Another danger of showing the events of September 11th on an endless loop is the danger of tampering with our own perspectives. According to a poll performed in Britain by the History Channel, 41% of people (who voted) said they considered the World Trade Center attack to be the most significant event in the world in the past 100 years. That’s in the past hundred years! We’re talking about comparing 9/11 to such events as the start or end of both World Wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust, the murdering of Millions by Stalin, the moon landing, the bombing of Hiroshima, the discovery of the theory of relativity, as well as many others. Now, just like Professor Owens, I don’t think we should forget or belittle 9/11, but we do need to keep some perspective as well.
Senator Lois Wilson says that “an estimated 35,000 children died of malnutrition worldwide on Sept. 11, and continue to do so every day. Does that fact that most of them were not American children lend credence to the cliché of the world being changed forever?” The attack on the Twin Towers could have forced America to take a better look at the world. It could have forced them to see that these sorts of disasters go on all the time. It could have shown them that they need to stop this sort of thing from happening all over the world, because even they aren’t immune. Instead, we are broadcasting the same images and stories we’ve seen from the beginning. We’ve allowed Americans to continue to feel the moral outrage of the event without learning anything from it. The media allows them to wallow in their own self-pity and marvel at their courage. By hitting us over the head with stories about the anniversary of 9/11, we’re not letting anyone grow or learn from this tragedy. We shouldn’t forget Sept.11, but we shouldn’t remember it at the cost of other tragedies either. It’s time to tone down the 9/11 coverage.
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