During the September 11 attacks of 2001, a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda, killed 2,977 people, injured over 6,000, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. Multiple others have died due to 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks, leading the numbers impacted to continually shift to reflect the new numbers.
Some of the victims were able to document their experiences, or the experiences of others, and created well-known images and videos to document the attacks and their trauma. The media produced during and after the attacks were used to help identify victims, for investigations into the attacks and to document the attacks for history amongst other reasons. Many media forms were used, specifically photography and videography from passersby on the streets or surrounding areas, freelance photographers, and media crews around the city. The large spread of images and video along with the lasting impact on the population caused many of the images and videos to be in the top of the list of performances given recognition in mid-2002. In broadcast journalism, the Peabody Awards went to ABC and NPR for their channels' documentation of the attacks, and the Pulitzer Prizes were awarded to six events around the attacks, including two in photography.[1]
Due to the public nature of the attack, which occurred in a busy location in broad daylight, the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 is said to be the most photographed disaster in history. Potentially due to the sudden and catastrophic nature of the attacks, there was no effort by city, state, or federal governments to document the disaster.[2] The Mayor of New York City at the time, Rudy Giuliani, issued an executive order shortly after the end of the attack, banning amateur photographs of the ruins as it was deemed a "crime scene" and not a tourist attraction.[3]
Many photojournalists such as Kelly Guenther and Suzanne Plunkett, became aware of the scale of the attack after the first tower was hit. Guenther recounted that she ran to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade shortly after the first tower was hit; this is when she noticed the second plane coming in over the Statue of Liberty. Her photo of the plane coming into the New York City skyline was used on the front of multiple newspapers. Plunkett had just exited the subway and was attempting to get past police barriers when the towers collapsed, and she began to run before turning around and capturing those evacuating the area.[4] Cameras and rolls of film were recovered in the rubble, which were either lost by surviving photographers or near those that lost their lives. These rolls of film and equipment, where possible, were cleaned and processed; many of the photos produced showcase the photographers' final work, notably with the recovered cameras of Bill Biggart.[5] Of the pictures recovered or initially uploaded to company servers, editors had to choose which to include or which would be deemed too disturbing to be published. Of polled photo editors who chose to run images classified as disturbing, for instance those with victims trapped on high levels or falling from the buildings, none chose to run the images on the front page but felt that not running the images would be a disservice to the victims and the scale of the tragedy. One such editor stated:[6]
Other forms of photo documentation of the disaster were not discovered until much later, such as a man's web-camera that had been set to take multiple photos and had captured the disaster.[7]
Some of these images were incorporated into an exhibition of images called After September 11: Images from Ground Zero which showcased twenty-seven images around the world.[8] Other exhibitions of the images were brought together in the form of archives, such as one spearheaded by photographer Joel Meyerowitz under the direction of the Museum of the City of New York to focus on the rescue and recovery work at Ground Zero.
| Photograph Name | Photographer | Description | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impending Death | Thomas Dallal | Depiction of the North Tower of the World Trade Center after it was struck by American Airlines Flight 11, with numerous people visible trapped on upper floors and hanging out the windows. | Placed second in Pictures of the Year International, used to attempt to identify victims depicted. | |
| The Falling Man | Richard Drew | Depiction of an unknown subject who either fell or jumped from the upper floors of the North Tower, as he fell from the tower to his death. | Anger and criticism is seen with the publication of the image.[9] | |
| Raising the Flag at Ground Zero | Thomas E. Franklin | Depiction of three New York City firefighters raising the American flag at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the attacks. | Has been incorporated in to a semi postal stamp and a 40-foot-tall bronze monument was based on the image.[10] | |
| Victim 0001 | Shannon Stapleton | Depiction of Father Mychal Judge's corpse being carried from the North Tower after he was killed by debris from the South Tower and became the first deceased recovered from the site. | Has been described as an American Pieta.[11] | |
| Dust Lady | Stan Honda | Depiction of survivor Marcy Borders covered in debris and dust after the World Trade Center collapse; the image became widely recognized. | The image has been used in many retrospective articles about the attacks.[12] |
At the beginning of the attacks, there were only three known videographers who captured the impact of the first plane when it hit the North Tower in New York City: French filmmaker Jules Naudet, who was recording for a documentary about the New York Fire Department;[13] German artist Wolfgang Staehle, who was livestreaming the Manhattan skyline at the time; and Czech tourist Pavel Hlava, who unintentionally captured the impact while making a video postcard to send home to his family.[14] Flight 175's impact of the South Tower was captured by numerous amateur videographers and across multiple news outlets who were reporting on the World Trade Center after Flight 11's impact. Two security cameras captured the impact at The Pentagon and the impact of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania is only recorded as a mushroom cloud in a single video.[15] The attacks were also captured by local law enforcement, such as Officer Glen Pettit, who was a video cameraman for the New York Police Department.
Jules and Gédéon Naudet are the French filmmakers who were at the scene of the attack as they were filming a documentary on members of the Engine 7, Ladder 1 firehouse in Lower Manhattan and had followed the firefighters on a routine call following a suspected gas leak in downtown New York. Upon hearing a plane pass overhead, Jules Naudet swung the camera to track it and filmed the collision by chance.[16] He continued to film during the attack and evacuation, gathering some 180 hours of footage. The brothers, by their own admission, made an effort to not film any of those who died while they were at the site via either fire, jumping or other traumatic injuries.[17]
Some individuals tied to news stations, such as photojournalist Mark LaGanga, who worked for CBS News, were called up by editors and executives and told to document the event. In the case of LaGanga, it was thought to be just a small plane crash, and he did not fully understand the true nature of the attack while he documented and interviewed passing first responders, until he documented the collapse of the North Tower.[18] Other videos of the attack were taken by individuals who did not make the footage public immediately, such as former New York University student Caroline Dries, who filmed the attack out of her 32nd-floor room on Water Street and held on to the footage for almost 10 years. After releasing the footage, she stated that it took her ten years to understand why the footage was special, and that sometimes it would have been nice or easier to not have filmed it, and just to have run away.[19]
Due to the reactive reporting of the attacks, many television journalists and their production teams were scrambling for information and reporting live from close locations to the attacks as possible. This allowed them to capture the real-time reactions of ordinary citizens, first responders, and political leaders as the events were unfolding, causing much of the verbal content aired to the public to be spontaneous and emotionally charged. Even later shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman showcased the emotional reactions to the attacks rather than a potential narrative.[20] Many channels devoted 24/7 coverage to the attacks as the magnitude of the damage was assessed, the potential for more attacks subsided, and important revelations into the roles of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda became known.[21] Channels such as WNYW, on its Good Day New York program, aired footage almost immediately, and CNN had a live feed of the Twin Towers at 8:49 AM, almost three minutes after the first plane had hit. Other channels used news channel coverage in order to spread information, with VH1 and MTV utilizing CBS's material, and ESPN and ESPN2 utilizing ABC's material. At the end of the night, Nielsen estimated that at least 80 million Americans watched the evening news, while an estimate by the University of Georgia held that about two billion people either watched the attacks in real time or through the news.
The satellite feed of one television station, WPIX, froze on the last image received from the WTC mast; the image (a remote-camera shot of the burning towers), viewable across North America (as WPIX is available on cable TV in many areas), remained on the screen for much of the day until WPIX was able to set up alternate transmission facilities. It shows the WTC at the moment power cut off to the WPIX transmitter, prior to the towers' collapse.
A little more than a week after the attacks, a Pew Research Center report showed that 89% of Americans polled gave the media a positive rating for the reports on the attacks and 90% of respondents received news about the attacks via the television. A review of the reported material by cable news stations found that during the first five hours of live coverage rumors and/or speculation was reported eighty-four times, with retraction statements as information became more available seen multiple times through the day.[22]
During a broadcast of The Howard Stern Show on 92.3 WXRK, Stern and his team learned about the crash while watching TV coverage in their recording studio, which was based in New York. As noted in a retrospective of the event, Stern reflected on how they were able to give unfiltered opinions and a raw reaction to the events rather than the dour and reserved commentary made by TV news outlets. Streams of callers phoned in to speculate about the event in real-time and give their impassioned, angered reactions, including eyewitness testimonials close to the New York attacks. The broadcast serves a historical document to highlight national sentiment as the attacks were taking place.
Other radio presenters have recounted the whiplash that occurred to those in the business having to move from their daily program to documenting, reporting and fielding phone calls about the disaster in real time. A host located in Jersey City with a direct view of the World Trade Center from their office, said that they were discussing if certain actions were cheating on air, when calls about a potential helicopter crash into the towers began. A prior host of a station in Los Angeles who was live that day said that she kept having to stop and calm herself while fielding the calls, and remembered no music being played. She also stated that she and the other host stayed on well over their normal sign off time, while attempting to get information out to the public as fast as possible.[23] Radio stations in New York City such as WINS 1010 and WCBS 880 kept information local broadcasting the latest in tunnel, subway, train and other transportation closures to allow people to evacuate, as well as who to call in order to report someone missing or where to donate.[24]
See main article: Communication during the September 11 attacks.
The hijackers of the airplanes did not know how to properly operate the planes' radio and intercom systems, so some of their comments were inadvertently sent to air traffic controllers. These comments, coupled with stewardesses who were able to operate the air-phone, meant that officials were able to document the attackers' movements on the planes.[25] Phone calls made from the planes have become testimonial and memorial pieces, such as a voicemail left by United Flight 175 passenger Brian David Sweeney which begins with; "Jules, this is Brian. Listen, I'm on an airplane that's been hijacked."[26]
According to the 9/11 Commission Report, 13 passengers from Flight 93 made a total of over 30 calls to both family and emergency personnel (twenty-two confirmed air phone calls, two confirmed cell phone and eight not specified in the report). Brenda Raney, Verizon Wireless spokesperson, said that Flight 93 was supported by several cell sites.[27] There were reportedly three phone calls from Flight 11, five from Flight 175, and three calls from Flight 77. Two calls from these flights were recorded, placed by flight attendants: Betty Ong on Flight 11 and CeeCee Lyles on Flight 93.[28]
As the attacks occurred during a transfer period of technology, many of the victims used pagers instead of cell phones to communicate with friends and family. Some of these messages were obtained by Wikileaks and published in 2009, although the validity of the messages cannot be fully confirmed.[29] Of these messages, analysis has shown that the phrase "plane has crashed" was used most often at about 9 am, along with "unconfirmed reports". Throughout the entire day and attack, the four most consistent phrases throughout were "please call home", "call me ASAP", "call your mother" and "call your wife".[30] One survivor, who had been eating in the cafeteria on the 43rd floor of the North Tower, reported she received a bulletin on her pager announcing that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.
Many reporters also reverted to utilizing pagers in order to communicate with news rooms, with a reporter with WTOP using his in order to communicate news he had heard over a police scanner about a prospective second plane incoming. He later recounted attempting to send "Unconfirmed report. Arlington police say FAA warning another hijacked plane fifteen miles from Pentagon and heading toward." through his Motorola pager.[31]
While the phone networks were crucial during the attacks to document what was happening and gain information for either victims, family and friends or first responders, they were also battered by the attacks. Verizon's densest knot of cables and switches in the world were located near the trade center, with the attack destroying 300,000 voice access lines, and 4.5 million data circuits with 10 cellular towers made inactive. This caused 14,000 businesses and 20,000 residential customers to lose service.[32]
During the September 11 attacks, cell phone technology was still being developed, and the capabilities of the technology themselves were limited. Relatively few cell phones could record and transmit still images and video, with only about 1 million smart phones being in use at the time.[33] However, many scholars found that the growing adoption of cell phones allowed for the creation of spontaneous networks of communication that circumvented more centralized systems of communication. Most of the material created by cell phones was voicemail messages. Many of the voicemail records were included by individuals documenting the disaster and in archives about the reactions of the victims and survivors. The director of the September 11 Digital Archive Tom Scheinfeldt stated in an April 2008 interview;[34] Others were able to reach members of their families either before, during or after the attacks. At least one individual who had experienced the 1993 bombing called her mother and urged her to turn on the television while she spoke to her about the conditions in the tower she was in and told her mother goodbye. A survivor noted at a later time that many of those he saw near ground zero often held cell-phones and were emotional at their inability to reach potential victims in the towers. Another who was evacuating with others in his building found that their network was jammed, and reported that when attempting to call only one out of twenty dials would get through.[35] Verizon, which was the largest provider of cellular service at the time with 24 million customers nationwide reported that the network experienced 50–100% more traffic than normal on its nationwide network following the attacks.[36] Loss of phone lines did not prevent survivors trapped in the rubble of the buildings from calling officials or family members during rescue efforts with their cell phones.[37]
Throughout Washington, D.C., and New York City, coin-operated pay phones on the street and near businesses became a vital link in communication and passing information. In an effort to streamline the process, some providers such as Verizon allowed for all local calls in the area of the attacks to be free for some 4,000 payphones. Two residents that lived close to ground-zero recounted in a later piece that they had both observed long lines for pay-phones as some cell-phones did not work during the attack while land lines and payphones did.[38] Media outlets based in New York City and Manhattan published photographs of people lining up on the streets to wait to use a pay-phone to communicate with friends and family members, as the cell-phone network was crippled. Reporters for local news agencies were also shown reporting via pay-phone.[39]
After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, radio repeaters for New York City Fire Department communication were installed in the tower complex. Because they were unaware that several controls needed to be operated to fully activate the repeater system, fire chiefs at their command post in the lobby of the North Tower thought the repeater was not functioning and did not use it, though it did work and was used by some firefighters.[40] Emergency relief efforts in both Lower Manhattan and at the Pentagon were augmented by volunteer amateur radio operators in the weeks after the attacks.[41] Members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) had been prepping for a simulation test in October 2001 before they were notified about the attack. Members of RAXES across the United States were activated with ARES members on alert shortly after communication of the attack, and helped pass along information and coordinate with local and federal officials.[42]