That Tuesday morning commute into WJTV in Jackson, Mississippi, was a pleasant drive. The weather was also pleasant. Clear skies and 71 degrees. The radio mentioned something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. My mind pictured a small aircraft such as a Cessna. With my being responsible for the content on WJTV.com, I wanted to get to my workstation and get it powered quickly. This likely would be a significant news event.
I had to pass the newsroom before heading to my office. Video monitors showed smoke billowing from one of the two towers. I rushed down the hallway, unlocked my door, and began powering up my workstation, monitors, and video decks.
After launching a breaking news update on WJTV.com, another reported plane crash on the other tower. These were no accidents.
I walked into the newsroom just as reports were coming in about smoke rising from the Pentagon. Video monitors showed the evidence.
"We're being attacked," said Darren Dedo, the morning anchor. He was sitting at his workstation, gathering information before going back on-air. A sickening feeling covered me. I agreed with my friend and returned to my workstation. I remained there for rest of the day.
Maybe I went next door to the kitchen for coffee or water. I'm sure there was a potty break or two. Between encoding video, listening to reports, scanning for as much data as possible...the day was a blur. Breaking news seemed a trite term. Every update was breaking. Every moment was waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop.
It's fascinating to me how much technology has changed the news industry since September 11, 2001. There was no YouTube, no Facebook, no Twitter. TV stations barely had a grasp of the power of the web. WJTV owners, Media General, had created an Interactive Media Division. Each station had one IMD employee to help evangelize the power of the web to newsrooms and TV stations built on the power of TV. The web was still new media and posting stories and video was an afterthought at best.
All IMD staffers encoded in RealVideo. It was king at the time. Videos were made to play on 14.4k and 56k modems. Dial-up, baby. Oh yeah. After all, highspeed internet access was the future and not our market audience. Upon encoding and trimming the video clips to the desired content, the files were FTP'd to our RealVideo streaming servers. Then I embedded links into stories.
This was a visual story. Images could tell some of the story. Video would capture the raw emotion, the tragedy, the unrelenting horror of that day. So, I captured all I could. Posted all I could. All the while trying to not be too emotionally distracted.
I prayed a lot that afternoon. Sought His wisdom and guidance. Rested on the fact that He was and still is in control. That all things happen for a purpose far greater than we can comprehend.
What I experienced that day was only slightly different than others. While many people could barely take their eyes from national broadcast news television coverage, I was doing the same but also repackaged those images, video, and words for others to absorb.
Yet, that experience compares nothing to what my friend and former colleague Mike Walter went through as a journalist. I would come to know Mike years later when I came to work at WUSA in Washington, DC. Getting to know Mike, I would hear of how he and other journalist saw the airliner impact the Pentagon. In the documentary "Breaking News, Breaking Down" Mike peels back the veil of the secret and painful suffering for those who report on the slices of hell we see from the comforts of our home.
We can forget a great deal, debate pointless topics, and try to place blame on multiple levels. But we must never forget that 3000 lives were lost that day. Each of those lives touched countless others. And even in death, some of those lives continue to teach...to love...to remind us of how valuable and special human life truly is.
To the heroes of 9/11...
I think everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing 10 years ago today. (Well, everyone who was a kindergartener or older!) It's very like you to be thinking of others...putting the news out there for people who craved it, needed it that day to process what was happening. I'm impressed by that about you. Always have been.
ReplyDeleteI was doing what I do that day. Teaching. 3rd grade that year. The 8 year olds were not allowed to be told what was happening as directed by our powers on high. And as much as I hated it that day, in hindsight and with more maturity, I can agree that it was the absolute best decision. Little people processing something like that without context...without mom and dad nearby to help them feel comfort...that would not be a good thing. However, they knew something was wrong. So my job was to make the day as bearable as I could for them while panic-stricken moms and dads made their way to our school to retrieve the little people. I'll never forget the one moment of humor that happened that day, that brought some much needed levity into a horrendous situation. It's not uncommon for elementary students to be dismissed early for doctor and dentist appointments. When that happens, the front office calls over the loud speaker into the classroom and the child leaves. After about 15 of my 25 little charges that day had been picked up early, the remaining 10 were understandably upset by this. And one little guy made it all better when he said, "Mrs. Haube, there sure are an awful lot of dentist appointments today!" We all had a good laugh and made it through until the last one was gone and I could break down. Funny how you do what you have to do as a parent, as a teacher...and then breakdown when you're alone and no one will be impacted by it.
Thanks for sharing your memory of the day. And LOVE the new look of the blog! (Thanks for the link love, too!!!)
Thanks for your kinds words, friendship, and for sharing that day through a teacher's eyes.
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