The Unforgettable Memories of 9-11

When the terrorist attacks of 9-11 happened, life as we knew it in North America changed. Both in the USA and Canada. The innocence that we took for granted was gone. Our children would never experience the freedoms we experienced. There were no metal detectors at sporting events, concert venues, or airports. Airports were so open that you could walk to a gate and wait for family or friends to come off the plane. That all changed on September 11, 2001.

This Friday we’ll acknowledge that day when 25 years ago more than 3,000 people died in what was the first ever attack on American mainland.  Pearl Harbor was the greatest loss of lives on American soil before 9-11. There will be tributes in New York, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. There will be remembrances across the nation. Stories will be told. Sadness revisited. History will be passed on to those who were too young or unborn at that time. Think about your own thoughts, actions, and feelings from that day in 2001. Most of the population will remember the moment as a benchmark memory. “Where were you on 9-11” is more than a question.

Conversation about that day and the way many lives were touched will be a part of what we hear and see across all media and social platforms as we approach this Friday. The lead up to this milestone has already dominated the news cycle.  I’m very aware of audio tributes being created, websites being updated, and events being magnified with the power of radio and mass media. Talent who lived through the terrorist attack will share their memories.

Many of us, including myself, will live through the stories of others. I’ve heard them talk about the beauty of the day before the attack, the eerie silence that night after leaving a studio where they’d broadcast for 18 hours, not seeing a plane in the sky after all were grounded. We witnessed on TV the white powder covered reporters, the vision of bloodied survivors and first responders, the horror of witnesses, and the grief of those who lost loved ones. The stories coming out of Washington DC and rural Pennsylvania joining the horror of New York. America was under attack.

I was in the Pacific time zone the day of the attack. Visiting a radio client for what was supposed to be a Monday-Wednesday consulting trip. September 11 was on a Tuesday that year. Twenty-five years ago the internet was still hard wired. I needed a cord, and a little before 6:00am called the front desk of the hotel to ask if they could bring me one. The young man who delivered it said “Turn on your TV. A plane flew into a building in Manhattan.” He and I stood there watching Bryant Gumbel on The Today Show live as the second plane flew into the second of the Twin Towers.

The actions that began at that moment were fast and media overall scrambled to break into programming with bulletins. Non-News stations dropped music and launched into crisis coverage from the major radio networks. If a station didn’t have a network, many broke the rebroadcast rules and simulcast CNN, Fox News Channel, or other television audio. Informing the audience was critical. I left the hotel and met the programming team at the cluster of stations housing my client. We collaborated on how we can keep the audience informed, and more importantly how as a non-news cluster we ourselves could be informed. America was at war and I found myself wishing that all of the messages from the government on how radio was supposed to handle such crisis, had been kept.

Deep in my heart, despite the adrenaline rush of what we were doing to partner with local television and news sources to deliver critical information, I just wanted to go home. My family and their safety was top of mind for me. No air travel, no train stations near where I was, busses packed and no reservations, and I couldn’t find a car rental anywhere. We were in the dark as to when the next attack would come or where it would come from, and we weren’t yet informed as a nation who was behind this violation of our freedom.

I was among the blessed who were thousands of miles from New York. That didn’t make me any more comfortable, or to feel safe, as rumors of what was to come were everywhere. Today, with a quarter of a century behind us, it seems silly to think that anyone outside of the areas attacked should be fearful. It was frightening then. We didn’t know then what we know now. Like those at the stations I was then camped out at, we turned our energy and focus on helping others by keeping them informed, providing help lines to check on loved ones, and beginning to think of what’s ahead in the days to come.

It took me three more days to find a way back across America. A friends son was in Los Angeles, and he had a rental car. He wasn’t keen to drive 3,000 miles by himself. That became my ride home. We were able to travel together up until a split in the highway a couple hours from his home and mine. From there it was family who came to meet me and bring me back. What was never out of my mind were those that wouldn’t be going home, and the many who lost loved ones in the attacks of 9-11. Similar stories abound.

Technology in 2001 isn’t anywhere close to where it is today, but I was lucky to have mobility allowing me to work from my hotel room and later from that rental car driving across America speaking into a significantly larger mobile phone than today’s models, providing suggestions and guidance for coverage. For instance, WHTZ (Z100) studios were in New Jersey at the time. They had a camera positioned at a studio window that showed the burning and collapse of the twin towers. We encouraged stations to post the same link to their websites. Because music stations dropped songs, it was a natural to open the phones for listeners to share their concerns and stories. Breaking format was the format.

The start of how media responded, and specifically Radio, began on 9-11 but took some time to settle back into a cadence and routine. In some cases music radio didn’t return to playing songs for a week to ten days. You may remember that Late Night TV was off the air for a week. When all shows did return they were more subdued. The same for radio’s high profile personalities. The search for survivors lasted 48 hours, but the recovery phase lasted almost 8.5 months. It stretched from September 11, 2001 to May 30, 2002.

Radio was there, as we are now, with charities like Tunnels to Towers, Tuesday’s Children, VOICES Center for Resilience, and more. Mental Health issues were often hidden away in the past, but the trauma created by 9-11 brought to the forefront that sometimes we all need someone to talk to, receive counseling from, and to feel compassion from others.

The sense of pride in America that was felt then was magnified by the spirit that radio delivered. Stations began playing the National Anthem at set times during the day. Some still do today. That patriotic reflection continues to be supported by media. God Bless America is presented at baseball games during the 7^th inning stretch. Many NFL stadiums have a moment to recognize the military and Lee Greenwood’s song “Proud to Be an American” is blasted out of loudspeakers as the crowd rises. All captured on the radio broadcasts.

Because of the experiences of 9-11, and because of the technology that exists today that were unimaginable 25 years ago, along with prior preparation and discussion, we as an industry should be even better prepared should we encounter a tragedy of such national magnitude ever again. Hopefully, we never will.