Television Media in National Crisis

Peifeng Zhang

Abstract

A national crisis is an unusual period of great danger or “intolerable difficulty”

that a whole nation suffers and endures. Mass media, as part of the fabric of a society,

have to undergo a profound impact and play their irreplaceable roles in dealing with this

special period of time. This study will examine the roles American television media

played during the two national crises in history, the 1963 assassination of President John

F. Kennedy and the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks, and the crisis management

strategies the television media used in these two events. This study can help us

understand the medium’s crisis management strategy and the tendency of its

development.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………...ii

Purpose Statement………………………………………………………………………..iii

Definition of Terms……………………………………………………………………....iii

Statement of Justification.………………………………………………………….…….iv

Statement of Organization...……………………………………………………………..vii

Limitations………………………………………………………………………………viii

Chapter I: Timeline of the 1963 Assassination of President John F. Kennedy..………….1

Chapter II: Technologies of Television Medium in 1963

The Coming of “the First Television Society”…….………………………….9

Chapter III: Television Media and the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

The First Television Coverage of National Crisis…………………………...19

Chapter IV: Timeline of the 2001 September 11 Terrorist Attacks……………………...36

Chapter V: Technologies of Television Medium in 2001

The Arrival of “the Instantaneous Communications”...…………….…….....45

Chapter VI: Television Media and the September 11 Terrorist Attacks

The Television Coverage of the First National Crisis in the 21st Century.......52

Chapter VII: American Television Media in the National Crises:

An Analysis of the Television Media’s Roles……………………...................77

Chapter VIII: Conclusions…………………………………………………….................90

References………………………………………………………………………..............95

Acknowledgments

I express my gratitude to Mr. Thomas J. Notton, Dr. Albert M. Katz and

Mr. Brent L. Notbohm for their time and constructive insights throughout this research

project.

I would like to thank Dr. Martha J. Einerson, Dr. Cynthia R. Graham,

Mr. Michael D. Simonson and Mr. Todd S. Kneeland for teaching me many qualities

that will help me professionally.

I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, Mr. Zhang Guo Yong and

Mrs. Zhou Liang Ying, for their love and support. They have given me a perfect family.

A special thanks goes to Mr. John H. Hagfeldt and Ms. Evelyn M. Hagfeldt for

their support and great friendship.

I would also like to thank Ms. Cherie A. Sawinski, Mr. Steven A. Houghton and

Ms. Melinda Yingling, for the kind help.

I am grateful to the staff at the Jim Dan Hill Library of the University of

Wisconsin-Superior for the assistance made the completion of this paper.

In Memory of Dr. William H. Stock

Peifeng Zhang

ii

iii

Purpose Statement:

This study will examine the roles American television media played during the

two national crises in history, the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and

the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks, and the crisis management strategies the

television media used in these two events.

Definition of Terms:

Terrorism: For the purpose of this study, terrorism means a “symbolic act

designed to influence political behavior by extra­normal means, entailing the use of threat

or violence;” 1 “it is a form of psychological warfare whose prime purpose is to

propagandize and disorient a target population by attacking certain symbols of the state

and the society.” 2

Propaganda: For the purpose of this study, propaganda means the “deliberate

and systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior

to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.” 3

Public Information: For the purpose of this study, public information means any

message, material or knowledge of fact disseminated from an organization or institution

to the public without any deliberate and systematic attempt to manipulate the public

opinion.

1 Thornton, T.P. (1964). Terror as a Weapon of Political Agitation. In Eckstein, H., etc., Internal War. NY: Free Press. P73. 2 Kelly, M.J., & Mitchell, T.H. (1981). Transnational Terrorism and the Western Elite Press. Political Communication and Persuasion. NY: Crane, Russak & Company, Inc..P269­296. 3 Jowett, G.S., & O’Donnell, V. (1992). Propaganda and Persuasion (2 nd Ed.). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Public, Inc.P4.

iv

ABC: American Broadcasting Company

CBS: Columbia Broadcasting System

NBC: National Broadcasting Company

CNN: Cable News Network

FCC: Federal Communications Commission

PBS: Public Broadcasting Service

Statement of Justification:

A national crisis is an unusual period of great danger or “intolerable difficulty” 4

that a whole nation suffers and endures. In a time of national crisis, every social element

is subjected to a severe test. As to the field of communication, the rate of information

flow is enormously increased. Immediacy and pervasiveness become two striking

qualities of this information flow during the time of national crisis. An unstable and

unbalanced state can arise at the same time.

Mass media, as part of the fabric of a society, undoubtedly, also have to undergo a

profound impact and play their irreplaceable roles in dealing with this special period of

time. There has been a great deal of study of the content of mass media in a variety of

contexts, but still relatively little study of what role(s) mass media, especially television

media, play in a time of national crisis. However, the meaning of studying television

medium in the context of national crisis is significant. First, during this kind of special

4 James, R.K., & Gilliland, B.E. (2001). Crisis Intervention Strategies (4 th Ed.). CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Inc. P3

v

event, television medium employs the then most advanced media technologies (so­called

hardware), which can give us an insight into how the technologies help media exercise

their roles. Second, television medium constitutes an irreplaceable component in a

society. Through studying television medium’s roles under the circumstance of national

crisis can help us understand the medium’s crisis management strategy and the tendency

of its development.

Two national crises are chosen for the purpose of this study. One is the 1963

assassination of President John F. Kennedy; the other is the 2001 September 11 terrorist

attacks. Like society’s response to crisis, generally, mass media’s response to crisis may

have the following five stages. These are: first, the pre­disaster period; second, the period

of detection and communication of a specific threat; third, the period of immediate,

relatively unorganized response; fourth, the period of organized response; and fifth, the

post­disaster period. 5 In some cases, not all five of these stages may appear when mass

media respond to a crisis. In this study, the events of the 1963 John F. Kennedy’s

assassination and the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks may not have all the five stages

due to their characteristics of unusual suddenness and unpredictability. For instance, in

these two events, there was no apparent warning of any kind that caught attentions of the

public and there was no time people could prepare, physically or psychologically, to meet

the threats. Therefore, in my study, I will explore the issues within the stages of the

period of immediately, relatively unorganized response and the period of organized

response, or (and) the post­disaster period.

5 Greenberg, B.S.& Parker, E.B. (1965). The Kennedy Assassination and the American Public: Social Communication in Crisis. CA: Stanford University Press. P6.

vi

There are many differences between the event of the 1963 John F. Kennedy’s

assassination and the event of the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks. One of the

differences is the casualty. The assassination of the American President John F. Kennedy

is more that of psychological and political 6 , while the September 11 terrorist attacks are

more that of physical, psychological and political because of the greater scale of the

attacks.

However, the natures of the two crises are the same. They are both terrorist

attacks on the symbols of the nation though, in 1963, there were no such clear definitions

of “terrorism” or “terrorist” as the ones we use today to refer to the extreme violence of

this kind. In these two events, one is the President of the United States, which is a

political symbol of the nation; the other is the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,

which are two of economic and political or military symbols of the nation. The two

events are both “unprecedented” in terms of their significance in their perspective era of

mass media. Although John F. Kennedy is neither the first nor the only American

president in history who was assassinated, he is, indeed, the first American President

whose tragedy was covered by television media. In other words, television as a medium,

for the first time in its history, covered a national crisis on such a high level as never

before. Again, in 2001, the television media covered a largest­scale national crisis, the

September 11 terrorist attacks, for the first time in history.

The study of the media’s behavior in times of national crisis, specifically, the

television media’s roles in these two events, is still a new area in the field of mass

6 Greenberg, B.S.,& Parker, E.B. P7.

vii

communication. One of the reasons probably is that the recent September 11 terrorist

attacks are so “unprecedented” from many aspects, either in terms of the scale of the

crisis itself or in terms of its many impacts on the society as well as the media; the other

possible reason could be the factor of time, that is, the September 11 terrorist attacks just

happened less than two years ago (from the time when this research began) and we are

still in an era of fighting against terrorism, the tragedy of September 11 is still too close

for us to fully understand everything, including the mass media’s behaviors on that day.

This research, hopefully, could be among the earliest efforts to explore and comprehend

the roles of mass media, especially television medium, during such special period of time.

Statement of Organization:

To analyze the behaviors of the media, for example, the news report, one of the

most important things for most researchers to do is to examine the context(s) in which the

specific phenomenon arises. This is also the first step this historical study takes. The

study of the 1963 President John F. Kennedy’s assassination will focus on the period

from November 22, 1963 to November 25, 1963 when John F. Kennedy was buried. This

study of the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks will focus on the period from September

11, 2001 to the middle of October, 2001, shortly after America’s war on terrorism started

in Afghanistan. Contemporary records of these two events as well as those of different

media technologies used in these two periods, which are in form of government archives,

public reports and other relevant materials, will be collected and verified. Having

gathered background factors, I will analyze and interpret the news coverage and

viii

behaviors of the television media during these two periods. The technique of content

analysis will also be used to help examine these data. Hopefully, similarities and

differences of the roles and crisis management strategies of the television media in two

events could to be found.

Limitations:

This study will only focus on the television medium. Other media, such as print,

radio, recording, film or Internet will not be the focus of this study. Many critics argue

that Internet, in today’s global information village, has grown rapidly and is widely

considered as a big challenger to the traditional television medium; however, the

television’s leading status has not changed yet and is still the most important and most

trusted medium.

Two days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Princeton Survey Research

Associates conducted a nationwide survey for the purpose of finding out where the public

had gotten most of their information about the tragic event of September 11. 7

The results of the survey are as follows:

Talking with others 2%

Radio 11%

7 Retrieved from: LexisNexis Academic Database. Public Opinion Online, A survey of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The report was done in coordination with the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, September 15, 2001.

ix

Television 81%

Newspaper 1%

Internet 2%

Other 1%

Don’t Know/Refused 1%

By the time when John F. Kennedy’s assassination happened, ABC, CBS and

NBC were the only three major television networks in America. Therefore, my study on

this event will focus on these three commercial networks. Nowadays, there are more

television networks than four decades ago, such as FOX NEWS, CNN and PBS besides

the above three major broadcast networks. In order to limit the scope of the topic to a

manageable study, in the study of the television coverage of the 2001 September 11

terrorist attacks, the three biggest broadcast networks, ABC, NBC and CBS, and the

biggest cable television network, CNN, will be mainly focused because of their

extraordinary importance in the public life of the United States.

1

Chapter I

Timeline of the 1963 Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

(American Central Standard Time)

Friday, November 22, 1963

11:40 a.m.: President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, together with Mrs. Kennedy and their

party, arrived at Love Field, Dallas, Texas for a five­day trip. This trip was

primarily for a political reason—to help heal a rift in his party there and to

hold the state for the Democrats in 1964. 8

11:50 a.m.: The motorcade left Love Field, Texas. President John F. Kennedy sat in an

open limousine without shield. To the left of the President in the rear seat was

Mrs Kennedy. In the jump seats were: Governor Connally, who was in front

of the President, and Mrs. Connally, who was at the Governor’s left. An agent

was driving the limousine and another agent was sitting to his right. Directly

behind the Presidential limousine was an open “follow­up” car with eight

secret service agents. Behind the “follow­up” car was the Vice­Presidential

car carrying the Vice President and his wife. The press representatives were at

the end of the motorcade. The motorcade was to follow a circuitous eleven­

mile route through downtown Dallas to the Trade Mart where the President

8 Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of the President Kennedy. (1964). U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. P2.

2

John F. Kennedy would give a luncheon speech. 9

12:30 p.m.: President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was shot by

an assassin while the his car passed the building of the Texas School Book

Depository.

12:34 p.m.: The Dallas police radio mentioned the building of Texas School Book

Depository as a possible source of the shots. First UPI flashed about the

shooting.

12:36 p.m.: When President John F. Kennedy was sent to Parkland Hospital, ABC broke

into local programs with the first announcement of the shooting.

12:40 p.m.: CBS news anchor, Walter Cronkite announced: “In Dallas, Texas, three shots

were fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade. The first reports say President

Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting”.

12:45 p.m.: The police radio broadcast a description of the suspected assassin based

primarily on one eyewitness, Howard L. Brennan’s observations. NBC reacted

and announced the shooting.

(Approximately) 1:00 p.m.: The doctors of Parkland hospital announced that President

9 Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of the President Kennedy. (1964). U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. P2.

3

John F. Kennedy died in the emergency operation room, and the Last Rites were

administered by a priest.

1:05 p.m.: Robert F. Kennedy learned his brother was dead.

1:15 p.m.: Lee Harvey shot and killed Dallas policeman, J.D. Tippit.

1:33 p.m.: The President’s plane, Air Force One, carrying John F. Kennedy’s

body, with Mrs. Kennedy, the newly inaugurated President, Lyndon B.

Johnson and Mrs. Johnson abroad, departed Texas back to Washington.

1:36 p.m.: Mr. Malcolm Kilduff, the assistant White House press secretary, announced

the President’s death to the public.

1:38 p.m.: Cronkite of CBS delivered the news of the President’s death.

1:50 p.m.: Lee Harvey Oswald was seized after a scuffle in the Texas Theater.

2:00 p.m.: The body of President John F. Kennedy was taken from the hospital in a

bronze coffin, Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy walked beside it.

(Approximately) 2:00 p.m.: Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24­year­old warehouse worker, was

arrested as the suspected killer of a policeman on the street in the Oak Cliff

district, 3 miles away from where the President John F. Kennedy was shot.

4

2:38 p.m.: Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as the 36 th President of the United States

by Federal District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes.

3:00 p.m.: News of John F. Kennedy’s death brought official mourning at United Nations

when the General Assembly met.

3:15 p.m.: Television networks broadcasted Lee Harvey Oswald’s arrest.

5:20 p.m.: The Federal Reserve Bank at New York issued a statement declaring there was

agreement “that there is no need for special action in the financial markets.”

to prevent panic when the markets reopened.

5:58 p.m. (EST): Air Force One arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, Washington D.C.

6:14 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time): Lyndon B. Johnson’s first statement as President was

showed on television.

7:10 p.m.: Lee Harvey Osward was formally advised that he had been charged with the

murder of Patrolman J.D.Tipit.

5

NBC concluded its broadcasting day with a symphonic tribute from the NBC Studio

Orchestra. 10

Saturday, November 23, 1963

1:40 a.m.: Chief of Police Jesse Curry announced that Oswald had been formally

arraigned on a charge of murder in the President’s death.

4:34 a.m. (EST): President Kennedy’s coffin entered the White House.

10:00 a.m.—6:00 p.m.: Mr. Kennedy’s body lied in the East Room of the White House,

during which time Government and diplomatic officials paid their respects.

4:51 p.m. (EST): Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed mourning on television.

Former Presidents Truman and Eisenhower spoke for the cameras, offering condolences

to the Kennedy family and expressions of faith in democratic institutions.

Instant documentary tributes to the late president appeared on all three networks. More

information trickled in about Oswald, the accused assassin, whom the Dallas police

paraded through the halls of the City jail.

10 Doherty, T.(1997). Assassination and Funeral of President John F. Kennedy, In Horace Newcomb. Museum of Broadcast Communications: Encyclopedia of Television (Vol.2). Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

6

In the evening, CBS presented a memorial concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra with

Eugene Normandy conducting. 11

Saturday night: The news media were informed that the transfer of Oswald would not

take place until after 10a.m. on Sunday.

Sunday, November 24, 1963

Morning: Television, radio and newspaper representatives crowded into the basement of

the city jail to record the transfer.

12:21 p.m. (EST): Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald when Oswald was being transferred

in the basement of the city jail. NBC elected to switch over from coverage of

the preparations in Washington, D.C. to the transfer of the prisoner in Dallas. 12

Only NBC carried the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald live. “He’s been shot!

He’s been shot! Lee Oswald has been shot,” shouted NBC correspondent Tom

Petit, “there is absolute panic. Pandemonium has broken out.” Within minutes,

CBS broadcast its own live feed from Dallas. 13

1:07 p.m.: Oswald was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital.

1:25 p.m.: NBC announced Oswald was dead. The rest of the day all three networks

11 Doherty, P882. 12 Doherty, P882. 13 Doherty, P882.

7

replayed the scene again and again. 14

8:00 p.m. (EST): ABC telecasts A Tribute to John F. Kennedy from the Arts, a somber

variety show featuring classical music and dramatic readings from the bible

and Shakespeare.

Monday, November 25, 1963

A National Day of Mourning—bore witness to an extraordinary political­religious

spectacle: the ceremonial transfer of the president’s coffin by wagon from the Capitol

rotunda to St. Matthews Cathedral, where the funeral mass was to be celebrated by

Richard Cardinal Cushing, and across the Potomac River for burial at Arlington National

Cemetery.

7:00 a.m. (EST): television coverage began with scenes from Washington D.C., where

all evening mourners had been filing past the coffin in the Capitol rotunda.

10:38 a.m. (EST): the coffin was placed on the wagon for the procession to St. Matthews

Cathedral.

14 Doherty, P882.

8

Tuesday, November 26, 1963

Following the national day of mourning, the nation resumed its business. Jack Ruby, who

killed Oswald, was transferred to the county jail without notice to the press or to the

police officers who were not directly involvement in the transfer. He was later found

guilty.

9

Chapter II

Technologies of Television Medium in 1963

­­­The Coming of “the First Television Society”

By the end of 1963, the technologies of media, especially those of television

medium, had experienced a tremendous development and brought great impacts to the

society. For instance, the invention and use of videotape began to end the era of the

primitive kinescope technology and enabled, for the first time in media’s history, a filmed

event to be immediately recorded and played back; Microwave relay and coaxial cable

were more widely used to connect the growing ultrahigh frequency (UHF) and very high

frequency (VHF) television stations nationwide; The success of television via

communications satellites brought a new meaning to the mass media. These technical

achievements of broadcast journalism not only accelerated the pervasiveness of television

sets among American homes but also greatly increased the rate of dissemination of

information. An annual summary issued by the United States Information Agency,

headed by Edward R. Murrow, pointed out that the United States had more television sets

than any other country in the world and estimated that more than 56,000,000 television

sets were in use in 1963. Another study found that more than 90 percent of U.S.

households in 1960 had television sets. 15 For the first time in history, television medium

15 Hiebert, R. E. (1979).Mass Media: An Introduction to Modern Communication. NY: Longman Inc. P289.

10

started to challenge the status of the print in being the most powerful information source

in the United States. 16

For the purpose of increasing the number of information outlets and to encourage

the diversity in the media industry, in July 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed into

law legislation that required all television receiving sets shipped across state lines be able

to receive all UHF (channels 14 through 83) as well as VHF (channels 2 through 13)

frequencies. The goal of this law was to put UHF channels on a more equal technological

footing with the VHF channels. In fact, back in 1954, more than one hundred UHF

stations were already in operation in the United States. However, most television sets

made in or imported into the United States before 1962 were equipped to receive the

VHF channels only. Due to the lack of audiences and the short of advertising income,

those UHF stations were in a very difficult situation while competing with the VHF

stations. Before 1962, even those television viewers who were interested in watching

UHF had to install a tuning system called UHF converters in order to receive these

stations. 17 These cumbersome converters, which resembled metal bow ties and sat atop

the receiver, did not allow viewers to easily “click in” the desired channel. With the

commercial networks occupying the VHF channels, the UHF channels (primarily

independent commercial and educational or non­commercial stations) were in danger of

extinction. Apparently, the immediate goal, then, of the all­channel legislation was the

preservation of these channels. The longer­term goal was the encouragement of diversity

16 Hudson, R.V.(1987).Mass Media: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Television, Radio, Motion Pictures, Magazines, Newspapers, and Books in the United States. NY: Garland Publishing, Inc. 17 Lurzberg, M; Osterheld, W.,&Voegtlin, E. (1956).Essentials of Television, NY: McGraw Hill Book Co., Inc. P461.

11

(or the creation of “a multitude of tongues”) which was a guiding force behind much

FCC rule­making at the time. 18

On September 12, 1962, the Federal Communications Commission set up a

deadline for implementing the all­channel legislation. It stressed that any television set

manufactured in or imported into the U.S. after April 30, 1964 be all­channel equipped.

The proposal became an official FCC order on November 21, 1962. Later amendments to

FCC rules and regulations specified performance standards for the UHF circuit in the

new receivers relating to sound and pictures quality. In January 1963, the American

Congress further mandated that all television set must be manufactured to receive UHF

and VHF stations. Non­commercial television stations and public television stations saw

this move as being crucial to their existence. 19

In the process of building a nationwide network of communications, the

technologies of both terrestrial microwave relay and coaxial cable were also widely used

since the early 1950s. Coaxial cable, which is used in most cable systems for long

distance communication, consists of an inner metal conductor shielded by plastic foam.

The foam is then covered with another metal conductor, and that in turn is covered by

plastic sheathing. This protected cable may either be strung on utility poles or buried

underground to connect television stations. Comparing to wire cable, the coaxial cable

18 Massey, K. B. (1997). “All Channel Legislation,” in Newcomb, H & O'Dell, C. The Encyclopedia of Television, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. 19 Retrieved September 20 th , 2002 from www.pbs.org.

12

can carry much larger numbers of channels without losing the quality of the signal. 20

Besides the utilization of coaxial cable, microwave technology was also used within the

broadcast industry because not all television broadcast transmissions used standard

television frequencies at that time. At higher frequencies, microwave transmission can be

used. Microwaves are very short electromagnetic waves. The higher the frequency, the

farther the electromagnetic waves will travel in a direct line­of­sight path between

transmitter and receiver. 21

By the early 1950s, major American cities were linked together by either coaxial

cable or microwave. Since video signals could be transmitted cross­country or from coast

to coast via “hard wire” coaxial cable or microwave relay, major broadcast networks

could deliver their programming to their affiliates across the nation. 22 Microwave mobile

units (vans with microwave transmitters attached) had been used in television news

reporting since the late 1950s. The value of microwave mobile units lies on their mobility

and the ability of quick responding to emergency events or some other breaking news. 23

Before the arrival of satellite communication, coaxial cable and terrestrial

microwave played an important role in conveying information to every corner of the

country, in other words, they united the nation by being the nation’s electronic nerves.

20 Akwule, R. (1992).Global Telecommunications: The Technology, Administrations and Policies, Boston: Focal Press. P33. 21 Mullen, M. (1997). “Microwave,” in Newcomb, H & O'Dell, C. The Encyclopedia of Television, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. 22 Black, J & Whitney, F.C. (1988). Introduction to Mass Communication (2 nd ed.). Iowa: Wm.C.Brown Publishers. 23 Mullen, M.

13

While the terrestrial microwave and coaxial technology was deemed a means of

dissemination of domestic information, in the early 1960s, the communications satellite

arose to become the disseminator of international information. Launched from the Cape

Canaveral at 4:35 a.m., July 10, 1962, Telstar 1 was successfully in orbit at 4:46a.m..

Later that day, at 7:28 p.m., the first phone call was relayed through an active satellite in

space. Chairman of the Board of American Telephone and Telegraph, Frederick R.

Kappel, in Andover talked with Vice President Lyndon Johnson in Washington via the

satellite. Vice President Johnson said: “You’re coming in nicely.” 24 A few minutes later,

the first transatlantic television broadcast between American and Europe marked the

coming of a new era in communications. Successive initiatives including communication

satellite Relay 1 and Telstar 2 were launched in December 1962 and May 1963

respectively. 25 Telstar 1 became obsolete and was turned off on February 21, 1963. These

satellites illustrated the potential capability of a future world­wide satellite system to

provide communication between continents.

It is worthwhile to mention a historic break­through made on the first two Telstar

and Relay satellites. Unlike other successive geosynchronous satellites, the first two

communications satellites were random­orbit satellites. Each day, during four to five of

its nine orbits, Telstar became “visible” for only brief periods of time. A control center

was built to find it precisely, to help give it commands, to point the giant horn antenna at

it, and finally to send out across the country the phone calls, television, or data relayed

24 Solomon, L.(1963). TELSTAR: Communication Break­Through By Satellite. NY: McGraw­Hill Book. Company. P15­16. 25 Solomon, P62.

14

from Telstar to the horn. 26 Although these early satellites were not able to relay

information continuously, they paved a road to more advanced geosynchronous satellites

which appeared later. Noticeably, they also marked the beginning of a new period of

global communication by conveying instant information to one another. On July 23,

1962, a press conference was transmitted internationally for the first time by the Telstar

satellite. In talking about the role of the satellite, President John F. Kennedy perceived

communication through satellite as an instrument for peace. “I understand that part of

today’s press conference is being relayed by the Telstar…” said Kennedy in his opening

remarks, “I think this understanding which will inevitably come from the speedier

communications is bound to increase the well­being and security of all people here and

across the oceans.” 27 He believed that communication satellites would “serve our

(American) needs and those of other countries and contribute to world peace and

understanding.” 28

The invention of video tape recorder (VTR) brings what some call the most

dramatic change to television broadcasting in its history. 29 Prior to the VTR, kinescope

was used in television industry to record television programs. “A kinescope is a film

made of a live television broadcast. Kinescopes are usually created by placing a motion

picture camera in front of a television monitor and recording the image off the monitor’s

screen while the program is being aired.” 30 By using the Kinescope method, both precious

26 Solomon, P39. 27 Berry, J.P.Jr. (1987). John F. Kennedy and the Media: The First Television President, University Press of America, Inc. 28 Solomon, P58. 29 Retrieved October 20, 2002 from: http://www.umich.edu/~newzies/main/camera/images.html. 30 O'Dell ,C. (1997). “Kinescope,” in Newcomb, H & O'Dell, C. The Encyclopedia of Television, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

15

time and picture quality could be lost, and the poor picture quality it caused also

prohibited any extensive reuse of the films. In 1956, Ampex, an electronics firm in

California, first introduced the VR­1000 videotape recorder for professional

broadcasting. Since then, television programs were no longer unstable and ephemeral

events and could be repeatedly broadcast without losing picture quality. The television

industry responded so enthusiastically that Ampex could not produce machines fast

enough. It was the true beginning of the video age. West Coast television stations could,

without sacrificing picture quality, delay live East Coast news and entertainment

broadcasts for three hours until evening prime time, when most viewers reached their

homes from work. Meanwhile, Videotape had wide impact everywhere on earth,

including remote villages, where inexpensive tapes brought information and

entertainment. 31

In 1963, during the concentrated four day television coverage of President

Kennedy’s assassination, almost all of these contemporarily best media technologies

were used. People in the nation and around the world experienced not just a piece of

heart­breaking news, but vivid images of pain and horror. On November 25, 1963, a

national day of mourning, a new chapter was also being written into the media’s history.

By then, the television coverage of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination became the

“most intensive coverage of an event in terms of distance and time in the medium’s

31 Fang, I. (1997). “Videotape,” in Newcomb, H & O'Dell, C. The Encyclopedia of Television, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

16

history.” 32 Three major networks, NBC, ABC and CBS, used approximately a total of 119

cameras to cover the event of the President’s funeral. Most of those cameras were

deployed in different locations from the Capitol to Arlington National Cemetery. Then,

the shots caught by the cameras were sent to a control unit in the Capital, from where the

networks broadcast the live and recorded news coverage to the viewers. 33

In New York, NBC had the responsibility for transmitting the funeral services on

the communications satellite. 34 Through Relay communications satellite, the President

Kennedy’s funeral rites were broadcast live to 23 countries (an estimated combined

population of more than 600 million), the largest number ever to be assembled for a live

program. 35 In Britain and Soviet Union, the scheduled programs were suspended on a day

of America’s national mourning; audiences saw part of the funeral procession in live

transmission from Washington D.C. by the communications satellite Telstar. 36 Reuters,

the news Agency, said it was believed to be the first time Soviet television officials had

presented to the public a program that was transmitted from the United States by a

satellite. 37 In Japan, it should have been a happy day for Japanese television audiences

because the first live American television transmission cross the pacific by means of the

communications satellite was successfully received. Instead of hearing a greeting

32 Shepard, R.F, Television Pools Camera Coverage: Measures Set a Record for Distance and Duration, The New York Times, November 26, 1963. P11. 33 Shepard, R.F, P11. 34 Shepard, R.F, P12. 35 Shepard, R.F, P12. 36 The New York Times, Sunday, November 24, 1963. 37 Adams, V., TV will Continue A Sober Approach, The New York Times, Sunday, November 24, 1963, P9.

17

message from President Kennedy via Relay 1, the communications satellite, Japanese

people received the tragic news of the death of the American President. 38

After the tragedy, satellite technologies also provided an opportunity for

Americans to see the feelings of people in other nations. The images of world leaders and

people expressing sympathy and condolence at American Embassies were beamed to the

United States by Relay and Telstar satellites. 39

Videotapes of the programs on the President Kennedy’s assassination and his

funeral were sent to many countries to fulfill their need for more information and also to

some countries who had difficulties in receiving satellite transmission. ABC, CBS, NBC

and UPI Newsfilm sent countless hours of films covering all aspects of the President’s

assassination via jet transports to countries on all continents, for example, CBS films said

it had more than 150 people on both the East and West Coasts involved in round­the­

clock operations to get processed films on their way as soon as possible. At one point it

held a London­bound plane for an hour at New York’s Idlewild airport so that films of

the arrival at Washington of President Johnson and the Casket containing President

Kennedy’s body would reach Europe in time for airing on Saturday. 40 ABC said Soviet

television had purchased a one­hour filmed news program from them on the Friday

events. The program was sent by plane to Moscow on Saturday, November 23, 1963. 41

38 The New York Times, November 24, 1963, P14. 39 Mayo, J.B. Jr., A.B. (1966). Thesis: Network Television Coverage of the Assassination of President Kennedy and the Succession of President Johnson, the University of Texas. P59. 40 Broadcast and Cable, December 2, 1963, P56­P58. 41 Adams, V.(1963). P9.

18

Meanwhile, the technologies of microwave relay and coaxial cable were used to

feed the coverage throughout Canada and Latin America. For example, after President

Kennedy’s assassination, ABC international affiliates in Mexico and the local network

made an immediate arrangement to feed the live coverage through cable into Mexico City

from an ABC affiliate in Laredo. 42

Millions of people all over the world viewed these tragic scenes on television. For

the first time, viewing at the same stories, people around the globe paused together to

honor the past President of the United States. Even Panama Canal suspended

operations. 43 In a time of national crisis, a wide support and unity among the people is a

key to overcome the difficulty. With the help of the technologies of television medium,

informing and uniting people in the nation and even across the globe in such a very short

period of time—almost instantaneously, become possible. The technologies of television

medium in 1963 helped the realization of “the first television society,” in addition, it also

pointed out the direction of the future development of television media technology from

then on, that is, the technology of the instantaneous communication.

42 Mayo, P85. 43 Grosvenor, M.B. (March, 1964) “The Last Full Measure,” National Geographic, Vol.125, No.3, P126.

19

Chapter III

Television Media and the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

­­­The First Television Coverage of National Crisis

November 22 nd , 1963 might have been what Walter Cronkite, CBS news anchor,

called, “a day like all days.” 44 However, later, several horrible gunshots changed the day,

changed the history and also changed the mass media forever. American President John

F. Kennedy was assassinated on this black Friday. Suddenly, people began to realize that

the nation was in a crisis that they would have never expected in their lives. A great

nation lost its great leader and at the same time it could be in a great danger. The public

was stunned by this unfolding reality and was desperately in need of more information,

answer and help to overcome this national crisis. The moment the first shooting

happened, mass media, especially the newly developed television media, were instantly

being pushed into a test they had never prepared for.

As Air Force One touched down at Love Field in Dallas, Texas in the morning of

November 22, 1963, through televisions, many people in Dallas and across the nation

watched President John F. Kennedy, an idol of a generation, walking out of the cabin and

waving his hands to the crowd. No one at that moment could expect any awful thing

would happen later that day during this President’s short trip in Dallas. However, the

national and local television media had prepared, to some extent, to fully cover the

President’s visit. Besides the large production crews of their own, three major networks,

44 Mayo, P2.

20

ABC, CBS and NBC had their affiliate stations in Dallas and Fort Worth, a neighboring

city, ready to assist to cover the President’s visit. These local television stations are:

ABC­TV affiliate WFAA­TV (Fort Worth), CBS­TV affiliate KRLD­TV (Dallas), and

NBC­TV affiliate WBAP­TV (Fort Worth). These affiliates proved to play an

irreplaceable role in covering the whole event of that day, as Wes Wise, reporter of

KRLD­TV, said, “Dallas reporters portrayed Dallas (in the coverage of the tragedy of

1963) in their ways.” 45

At approximately 11:50 a.m., the Presidential motorcade left Love Field destined

for the Trade Mart where President John F. Kennedy was scheduled to have a luncheon

speech. The good weather allowed the President and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to

ride through Dallas in an open­air limousine. Their hosts, the Governor John Connally

and his wife, rode in the jump seats in front of them. Vice President Lyndon Johnson’s

car was behind the presidential limousine. Meanwhile, all correspondents from the

national and local press were taking the two buses following the Vice President. The

three major television networks also sent their reporters. For example, Robert Clark,

Acting White House Correspondent, was from ABC; Robert MacNeil, riding in the first

bus, was a reporter from NBC; Robert Pierpoint, riding in the second bus, was from

CBS. 46 Although so many national correspondents were in the motorcade, they were still

unable to catch the tragic moment of President Kennedy’s assassination because those

press vehicles were lined up last in the motorcade. 47

45 JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Videotape), 1998, TX: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. 46 Mayo, P12. 47 Garner, J. (2000).We Interrupt This Broadcast (2 nd Ed.). IL: Sourcebooks, Inc. P49.

21

When the motorcade passed through the streets of downtown Dallas, thousands of

excited onlookers were greeting the President. President Kennedy also stopped several

times to greet those well­wishers. These pictures were transmitted live all over the nation

to almost every turned­on television set through cable and microwave relay. Many

viewers still remembered that, nearly a month before, American ambassador to the

United Nations Adlai Stevenson had been attacked in Dallas, which was caught on

videotape by some reporters and then was showed again and again on the national

television networks. Since then, Dallas had been deemed a politically hostile territory by

many people. It seemed that the scenes of Dallas residents’ welcoming the President

would dispel the misgivings of many Americans about the political atmosphere of this

city. Americans saw Dallas as a friendly city again, at least, for the moment.

At 12:30 p.m., when this Presidential motorcade was passing by the Texas School

Book Depository, several gunshots ripped through the air and stunned everyone present.

Governor Connally was struck in the shoulder, wrist and leg. President Kennedy was hit

in the neck and back, and finally suffered a massive fatal would in the rear portion of his

head. 48 Meanwhile, as the press vehicles stopped, the reporters ran to search for

telephones because they had no other means to get in touch with the stations, NBC’s

Robert MacNeil found one telephone in a nearby building—the Texas School Book

Depository, the same building from which the shots had been fired. This was but the first

of many reports MacNeil would phone in from Dallas. Based on what he saw, he

described the situation briefly and cautiously:

48 Garner, P50.

22

“Several shots were fired as President Kennedy’s motorcade passed through

downtown Dallas. Crowds screamed and lay down on the grass as the motorcade went

by. Police broke away and began chasing an unknown gunman across some railroad

tracks. It was not known if the shots were aimed at the President. Repeat, it is not known

if the shots were aimed at the President.” 49 However, telephone lines were soon clogged

and did not work property because of a large number of phone calls at the same time.

Although the press missed the live picture of the attack and the news footage was

only black and white, some amateur photographers happened to catch the shootings on

color film that later enabled the public to witness the horror. However, at this very early

stage of the national crisis, without live news coverage and other reliable instant

communication methods, television media had to heavily rely on the Associate Press

(AP) for quick information. At NBC news headquarters in Burbank, California, Tom

Pettit read the AP bulletins on the air about the shooting in Dallas as they came in. All the

West Coast NBC stations, meanwhile, received this news from headquarter and began to

broadcast it. After twenty minutes, the NBC news headquarters in New York assumed the

control of the entire NBC network including the West Coast stations. Moments later, Bill

Ryan and Chet Huntley of NBC­TV, joined by Frank McGee and David Brinkley,

appeared on camera and began their continuous coverage of the event. These four men

shared the anchor position on NBC throughout the four days. 50 Grieved over the

unexpected tragedy, Pettit’s following words in his first report might reflected the

feelings of many other journalists in covering this national crisis.

49 Mayo, P16, MacNeil,R. from a broadcast recording contained in the RCA Victor record (#LOC­1088) “A Time to Keep: 1963.” 50 Mayo, P18.

23

“… It had been an unnerving experience, because the truth of the news had been

as difficult to grasp in the reading as it must have been in the hearing. The task of

continuing expanding news coverage overrode emotion.” 51

On CBS, the soap opera As the World Turns was interrupted by a graphic that

read, “CBS News Bulletin” after the shootings happened. Walter Cronkite, news anchor

of CBS, announced the news with cracking voice off camera,

“In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade in

downtown Dallas. The first reporters say that President Kennedy has been seriously

wounded by this shooting...”

Walter Cronkite later also described this first reporting of the President’s

assassination as if “it was a running battle between my emotions and my news sense.” 52

ABC was among one of the first networks that switched directly to Dallas, where

their affiliate WFAA­TV started reporting from the scene of the luncheon where

President Kennedy was to have an address. When the affiliate gathered the early

information and reported them to the nation, the staff in the New York office was able to

plan their next move. Camera crews and correspondents, videotape facilities and live

remote vans, writers, film editors, and news executives were ready to be dispatched to

51 Mayo, P18. 52 Mayo, P18­19.

24

Dallas. Correspondent Bill Lord went to Dallas from New York to support Acting ABC

White House Correspondent Robert Clark and his production crew. From New York,

ABC’s producer Roger Sharp and his crew also flew to Dallas. They all reached Dallas

by Friday night to take over ABC­TV’s operations on the scene. 53 As WFAA was helping

feed the network, their Washington bureau was also getting organized to report the

reactions of the public about the assassination. 54

In Dallas, local television correspondents kept providing information to the

broadcast networks. Among them was Eddie Barker, news director of local television

station, KRLD, the CBS’s Dallas affiliate. Cronkite, much later in A Reporter's Life, said

Barker's “news sources among the police and hospital personnel were invaluable.” At the

time when the assassination happened, Barker was in Trade Mart preparing to report the

President’s scheduled speech. Barker was live at the Trade Mart off camera trying to sort

through reports from Dealey Plaza when the tragic news reached him.

Barker: “…The shots apparently came from the Texas School Depository, School

Book Depository, which is a building of about eight floors in height…and yes…”

Suddenly, Eddie Barker was interrupted by a man with terrible news, that man

later was identified as a doctor working at Parkland hospital where the President was sent

to after being shot.

53 Mayo, P10­­11. 54 Greenberg, B.S. & Parker, E.B. (1965).The Kennedy Assassination and the American Public: Social Communication in Crisis. CA: Stanford University Press. P67.

25

Barker: “We have just been told by a member of the staff at the hospital the

President is dead. The doctor says the President is dead…”

Doctor: “He’d been shot in the chest.”

Barker: “Do you have any report on that?”

Doctor: “Not (yet)…”

Barker: “Thank you! Sir! This is the report of a doctor, who is on the staff

department of the Parkland hospital, who was here for the luncheon. He said the

President is dead. We do not have a confirmation on this. We only pass along words from

a man whom we would take as a good source at this time.” 55

While hearing Barker’s interviewing the doctor over the phone, on television

screen, television audiences saw images of the people’s reactions at the Trade Mart for

the luncheon. The people there were shocked and heartbroken. The camera especially

focused on a picture of a sad African American waiter who was wiping his eyes after

hearing such terrible news. Minutes later, audiences were informed the first official

announcement through television. The city mayor, Erick Johnson, confirmed, “It’s true

55 JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Video)

26

that our President in the motorcade had been shot.” 56 Moments earlier, outside of

Parkland hospital, hundreds of Dallas residents and journalists were anxiously waiting for

the news about the President’s condition. Bob Huffaker of the KRLD­TV described the

scene to the television viewers:

“…people are crying. Congress, senators, who love the President… a scene of

indescribable sadness and horror at the emergency entrance at the Parkland

hospital…people are wondering ‘is our President going to live?’”

Almost all the television audiences shared the same sadness and concern by

watching the pictures of other people’s reaction. The death of the President Kennedy was

officially announced by the doctors of Parkland hospital at approximately 1 p.m., Central

Standard Time. A priest administered the Last Rites. While CBS began relaying

unconfirmed reports of the President’s death about fifteen minutes before the priest made

the statement, both ABC and NBC took different steps to avoid the conclusion made by

the unofficial sources; they waited to report the death of the President until there was

official word of the death. 57

After getting confirmation on President’s death, people began to look for the news

on the questions of who committed this crime, how this could ever happen and how the

nation would handle this crisis. People were eager to know the context of this national

56 JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Video). 57 Greenberg, B.S. & Parker, E.B., P.82.

27

crisis as well as the crisis management of the nation, so were the television media. Not

long after shooting, the television networks began to closely follow the development of

police investigation in search for the suspect and the moves of the government officials,

especially the Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

The suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, arrested after a struggle at the Texas City

Theater at around 1:50p.m., was later accused of killing the President and a Dallas police

officer, J.D. Tippit. CBS­TV’s affiliate, KRLD­TV, got the first news footage of Lee

Oswald in custody at the old city hall. By early evening, the hallway of the police

headquarter had been jammed with news cameras and reporters. Police and attorney

showed some evidence including the rifle used by Lee Oswald to the reporters. 58 Lee

Oswald was also brought in to face the interview of the reporters. Some reporters

emotionally yelled out at Lee Oswald “Why did you kill the president?” Later, Eddie

Barker described the situation of having so many reporters at the police headquarter

“anyone who views the tape will immediately be struck by the remarkable access the

reporters had to the suspect Lee Oswald.” Policeman Glenn King claimed the reason for

letting the press meet directly with Lee Oswald was to let the case be “as open as possible

to public”, in other words, “in the eye of the public.” 59 However, it was also this

remarkable access the journalists had that claimed the life of Lee Oswald later on that

Sunday.

58 JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Video). 59 JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Video)

28

While some reporters were gathering around the police headquarter, others were

reporting the swearing­in of a new President. Though television screens, people around

the nation watched Lyndon Johnson making his first television statement as the new

President of the United States at a Washington’s airport. His words were short and plain,

but they were powerful because they “bound the nation together.” 60

“I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help…” 61

The pictures of Lyndon Johnson’s swearing­in and his first presidential statement

on television conveyed a strong message to the public and even the rest of the world, that

is, with the emergence of a new leadership, the situation of the nation was under control

and political environment was stable. In the evening of a tragic day, television viewers

saw President Lyndon Johnson as a symbol of leadership; Jackie Kennedy, in her

bloodstained dress, as an embodiment of bravery and calm. Therefore, their frequent

appearances on television seemed more important than any statement during this early

stage of the national crisis. ABC White House Correspondent William H. Lawrence, who

had been covering the White House for more than twenty year, held: “I think that was the

whole lesson of those four days. Although we mourn the death of a President, we don’t

witness the collapse of the Constitutional system or the setting­in of chaos.” 62 Mike

Pengra, a producer­director at the educational television station in Austin, Texas, said, for

60 Hickey, N. (1963). Television defines the catastrophe: for four days, the young medium mesmerized Americans and bound the nation together, Columbia Journalism Review, Nov­Dec 2001, V40, P55. 61 JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Video) 62 Mayo, P69.

29

the first time, mass communications demonstrated vividly the process of democracy

under which we live.

To the television media, Friday, November 22, 1963, to some extent, also meant a

day of chaos. In this day, television media did not catch up the speed of radio in

conveying the breaking news. The first piece of news about shooting was actually

announced though radio, instead of on television. At that time, television technologies

were not advanced enough to convey the breaking news as quickly as the radio did in a

sudden crisis situation and even did not catch the moment of assassination on film. After

news anchor Walter Cronkite announced the first piece of the shocking news of President

Kennedy’s assassination without any video image, CBS, ironically, cut to a commercial

for Nescafe.

However, the television media were growing up during this chaos. In the

afternoon, less than a few hours after the assassination, all television networks in the

nation took an unprecedented measure by canceling all commercials and all

entertainment programs for the news, special coverage of the assassination and the

related development. ABC, CBS and NBC unanimously said that they would keep

suspending commercials and other entertainment programs until after the Kennedy’s

funeral. 63 In talking about the financial impact caused by suspending all the commercials,

James C. Hagerty, ABC news vice president, said: “Money was not a factor. We did what

had to be done with no thought of expense.” 64

63 “Cancel commercials, all entertainment,” Broadcasting, November 25, 1963. 64 Mayo, P134.

30

Saturday was still a day of mourning. Besides reporting that Lee Harvey Oswald

was formally charged with murder of the President and providing information on the

suspect’s backgrounds, all the three major networks ran their documentary tributes to the

late President. Old tapes and speeches of President Kennedy constantly appeared on

television screens. In the evening, CBS and other television networks also presented a

memorial concert or funeral music to mourn the death of President Kennedy.

Many scholars argued that it was Sunday’s event of Oswald’s assassination that

defined the impact on the evolution of television. 65 After experiencing the chaotic Friday,

the television media had become more mature by being quicker and more sensitive to any

media event following the Kennedy’s assassination. The three major television networks

fully prepared for any situation, such as the unexpected Lee Oswald’s assassination and

President Kennedy’s funeral. It was this kind of full preparation that made a first

televised murder and an unprecedented international coverage of the President’s funeral

into reality in the mass media’s history.

Before the transfer of Lee Oswald, a NBC producer said: “One executive had a

premonition, he made sure we were adequately covered in Dallas. He felt something

serious might happen, and we had very carefully planned that half­hour to go to Dallas at

the time Oswald was brought out. We had cameras at both jails to cover it. All details

65 Stark, S. D. (1997). Glued to the set: the 60 television shows and events that made us who we are today. NY: Free Press. P148­154.

31

were planned… the New York anchorman would switch to Dallas. Dallas said ‘give it to

me’ just as the doors opened. It was not luck, this was well­planned coverage.” 66

On Sunday, when Lee Oswald was transferring from the city prison to the county

jail, the press assembled in the basement of the city jail to cover the transfer. ABC was

unable to have live television camera at the city jail and so later only obtained film

footage of the homicide. ABC had three mobile units in the local area. One of them was

at the county jail, and the other two were being used to cover a Baptist church service in

Fort Worth so that on Sunday morning viewers would not feel tired of coverage that only

showed the viewing of the President’s casket in the Rotunda and preparations for

Oswald’s transfers. The local ABC station, independently and possibly for some of the

same reasons, elected to cover a Methodist church service in Dallas. Only after the

decisions and commitments had been made did it become quite evident that this would

leave ABC with only one mobile unite to cover Oswald’s transfer. As one ABC executive

put it, “Here is a real case of crossed wires. We should have checked with them

beforehand, but nobody thought of it.” Left with one mobile unit, the network people in

Dallas and the affiliate station people had to decide how it could be deployed in the best

way. It was felt that this would be a crucial decision. Finally, ABC placed its remaining

mobile unite at the county jail and two film cameras in the city jail. 67 At approximately

11:20 a.m., when Oswald, flanked by policemen, emerged from the basement jail. A man,

later identified as Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner, leaped from the crowd of reporters, and

shot Oswald. Oswald was rushed to Parkland hospital and pronounced dead at 1:07p.m..

66 JKF and American Public, P79. 67 Greenberg, B.S. & Parker, E.B., P80.

32

His death was announced by the chief of Dallas police department, Jesse Curry. While

ABC and CBS were quite frustrated at having recorded the event only on film, NBC

quietly appreciated its live coverage scoop. NBC, by cutting quickly and abruptly to

Dallas, was the only network to carry the murder “live.” As Doyle Vinson, Assistant

News Director of NBC’s affiliate WBAP­TV, recalled it: “NBC correspondent Tom

Pettit was in the basement of City Hall with live cameras and he was on the network with

live narration by the time Oswald was shot.” 68 When NBC reporter Tom Pettit kept

repeating “He’s been shot; he’s been shot; Lee Oswald has been shot” at the scene, the

Oswald’s murder became America’s first major see­it­as­it­happens national event.” 69

Through Sunday, the television networks stations had also been preparing remote

units at several places along the route to photograph and describe the cortege from almost

every angle. NBC Correspondent Robert Goralski was positioned atop the Apex building

with a remote unit the network had rented from WBAL in Baltimore. They could see all

the way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Apex building. NBC used three other

production unites to cover the cortege on Sunday. 70

NBC remained on the air all night long with their cameras studying the catafalque

and the procession past it. NBC’s Robert Goralski, who had delivered commentary for

the procession and ceremonies much of the day, got home at 10 p.m. Sunday night and

turned on his own television set and began watching the news reports. He said “the

68 Mayo, P110. 69 Garner, J. P57. 70 Mayo, P116.

33

crowds filed past the Capitol Rotunda until about 2 a.m. the next morning. It wasn’t until

you got home that you had a chance to stop and think.” 71

On Monday, November 25, a national day of mourning, television media achieved

a new stage on its crisis management. All television networks not only dropped Lee

Oswald rather quickly but also reached an unprecedented level of cooperation by pooling

camera coverage. Three major networks, ABC, CBS and NBC supplied more than 50

cameras for the joint coverage alone. Furthermore, each different network was assigned

different responsibilities according to their agreement. For example, CBS was in charge

of the control unit in the Capitol from where it sent edited pictures to other networks;

NBC had responsibility for transmitting the funeral services on the communications

satellite to other nations. 72 Television viewing reached its highest level in history during

this period, attaining a 93 per cent sets­in­use rating during the funeral procession from

the White House to Arlington national Cemetery. More than half of the New York homes

with television sets remained tuned for thirteen consecutive hours on Monday, the final

day in the four­day period of special programming. 73 Dallas audiences watched three

funerals. Besides receiving the broadcast of the President’s funeral process in

Washington D.C. from the three networks, Dallas viewers also saw the service of slain

police officer J. D. Tippit Jr. and later the burial of the Lee Oswald. KRLD­TV sent film

crews to record Oswald’s funeral that day but it did not show until later Monday night.

71 Mayo, P121. 72 Shepard, R.F.,P11. 73 Originally from A.C. Nielson, Nielson Instantaneous Audiometer Service, from a graph by CBS in an employee newsletter dated December 12, 1963. P4.

34

On November 26, following the national day of mourning, the nation resumed its

business. Even as to Jack Ruby, the media did not report any detailed and continuous

information on him until his trial in early 1964. President Lyndon Johnson praised the

television media for their performance during this national crisis:

“Television’s remarkable performance in communicating news of President John

F. Kennedy’s assassination and the events that followed was a source of sober

satisfaction to all Americans.

It acted swiftly. It acted surely. It acted intelligently and in impeccable taste.

On that unforgettable weekend in November 1963, television provided a personal

experience which all could share, a vast religious service which all could attend, and a

unifying bond which all could feel.

I take this opportunity to add my voice to those who already have recognized

television’s historic contribution.”

This concentrated four­day commercial free television coverage of Kennedy’s

assassination and its aftermath was an unprecedented challenge for the television media

at that time. Through covering the events and helping the nation manage the crisis in such

a short time, the television media had learned valuable lessons and gained plentiful

experience.

The President of ABC News, Elmer Lower, in looking back on this marathon

telecast, said: “There has never been a story like this. The presence for the first time of

35

electronic and film media at the climactic moments of a story, the great figures of our

country and the world who took part and, of course, that fact that it was all so

unbelievable.” 74

74 Lower, E. (1963). in ABC News press release dated November 26, 1963, P175.

36

Chapter IV

Timeline of the 2001 September 11 Terrorist Attacks

(American Eastern Standard Time)

September 11, 2001

8:45 a.m.: A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11, which left Boston en

route to Los Angles with 92 people on board, crashed into the 110­story north tower of

the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 carrying 65 passengers

from Boston, crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center and exploded. Both

buildings were burning.

9:17 a.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration shut down all New York City area

airports.

9:21 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ordered all bridges and

tunnels in the New York area closed.

9:30 a.m.: President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, said the country had suffered

“an apparent terrorist attack." Through the media, he also said he would order "a full­

scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act.

Terrorism against our nation will not stand."

37

9:40 a.m.: The FAA halted all flight operations at U.S. airports: the first time in U.S.

history that air traffic nationwide had been halted.

Approximately 9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 with 64 people abroad crashed

into the Pentagon, severely damaging one side of the building.

9:45 a.m.: The U.S. government buildings in Washington including the Capitol and the

White House were evacuated.

9:57 a.m.: President Bush departed from Florida.

10:00 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, plummeting into the

streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris formed and slowly drifted away from

the building.

10:10 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon collapsed.

10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93 with 38 passengers and seven crew members, also

hijacked, crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

10:13 a.m.: The United Nations building evacuated.

10:24 a.m.: The FAA reported that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United

States were to be diverted to Canada.

10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center's north tower collapsed.

38

About 11:02 a.m.: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urged New Yorkers to stay at

home and ordered an evacuation of Manhattan south of Canal Street.

11:16 a.m.: CNN reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were

preparing emergency­response teams in a precautionary move.

12:15 p.m.: The Immigration and Naturalization Service said U.S. borders with Canada

and Mexico were on the highest state of alert.

1:04 p.m.: President Bush, speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, said

that security measures were being taken. He asked for prayers for those killed or

wounded in the attacks and said: "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and

punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."

1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency was declared in Washington, D.C..

About 1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon said five warships and two aircraft carriers would leave

the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack

and to reduce the number of ships in port. Meanwhile, President Bush left Barksdale Air

Force Base aboard Air Force One and flied to an Air Force base in Nebraska.

2:38 p.m.: At the first televised Press conference after the event, Giuliani said that the

efforts and focus from then on was to save as many lives as possible. Asked about the

number of people killed, Giuliani said, "I don't think we want to speculate about that ­­

more than any of us can bear."

39

4:00 p.m.: CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor reported that U.S.

officials said there were "good indications" that Saudi militant Osama bin Laden,

suspected of coordinating the bombings of two U.S. embassies in 1998, was involved in

the attacks.

4:06 p.m.: California Gov. Gray Davis dispatched urban search­and­rescue teams to New

York.

4:25 p.m.: The American Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock

Exchange said they would remain closed Wednesday.

4:30 p.m.: The president left Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska aboard Air Force One to

return to Washington.

About 5:20 p.m.: The 47­story Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex collapsed.

The evacuated building was damaged when the twin towers across the street collapsed

earlier in the day. Other nearby buildings in the area remained ablaze.

6:10 p.m.: Mayor Giuliani urged New Yorkers to stay home Wednesday if they can.

6:40 p.m.: U.S. Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, held a news conference in the

Pentagon, noting the building was operational. "It will be in business tomorrow," he said.

6:54 p.m.: President Bush arrived back at the White House aboard Marine One and was

scheduled to address the nation at 8:30 p.m.

40

7:20 p.m.: President Bush declared New York a major disaster in the wake of the attacks

on the World Trade Center.

7:45 p.m.: The New York Police Department said that at least 78 officers were missing.

The city also reported that as many as half of the first 400 firefighters on the scene were

killed.

8:30 p.m.: President Bush addressed the nation, saying, "Thousands of lives were

suddenly ended by evil" and asked for prayers for the families and friends of Tuesday's

victims. "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve,"

he said. The president said the U.S. government would make no distinction between the

terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbored them. He added that

government offices in Washington were reopening for essential personnel Tuesday night

and for all workers Wednesday.

11:54 p.m.: CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno reported that a government

official told him there was an open microphone on one of the hijacked planes and that

sounds of discussion and "duress" were heard. Sesno also reported a source says law

enforcement had "credible" information and leads and was confident about the

investigation.

September 12, 2001

From the early morning, people began to look for the missing persons. New York Mayor

Rudolph Giuliani warned the death toll would be thousands at the World Trade Center.

Firefighters continued to douse flames in New York and Washington. President Bush

41

began his first full day back in the White House, he declared the attacks were "acts of

war" and began to rally “an international coalition to combat terrorism”, he also visited

the damaged Pentagon in the afternoon.

September 13, 2001

President Bush spoke by telephone with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in the morning and

then met with members of Congress from New York and Virginia about assistance to

families and victims of the attack. President Bush vowed that America would "lead the

world to victory" over terrorism in a struggle he termed the first war of the 21st century.

Hijacking trail led FBI to a Florida Flight school and the names of suspects and planners

said to be known. Secretary of State Colin Powell identified Osama Bin Laden as

the prime suspect and said other countries could no longer remain neutral in the fight

against terrorism. The United States would respond with a sustained military campaign,

not a single strike, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said. Air travel cautiously

resumed today.

September 14, 2001

In the morning, President Bush arrived at Washington National Cathedral for prayer

serve, he said: “We are here in the middle hour of our grief.” In the afternoon, President

Bush arrived in downtown New York, visited the WTC site and addressed the rescue

workers. President Bush declared national emergency and gave military authority to call

42

50,000 reservists to active duty. Justice Department released names of the 19 hijackers.

Afghanistan's Taliban militia warned of "revenge" if United States attacked it for

harboring bin Laden. President Bush led four former presidents and nation in prayer at

National Cathedral and visits trade center site.

September 15, 2001

President Bush told the military to get ready for a long war against terrorism and vowed

to “do what it takes to win.” The State Department warned governments would

be isolated if they tolerated or assisted terrorist groups. Pakistan agreed to the full list of

U.S. demands for a possible attack on neighboring Afghanistan.

September 16, 2001

President Bush pledged "crusade" to "rid the world of evil­doers," brushed off reported

Osama bin Laden denial. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney warned that those who harbor

terrorists would face "the full wrath of the United States." Pakistani official said senior

delegation sent to Afghanistan to deliver U.S. message: hand over Osama bin Laden or

risk massive assault.

September 17, 2001

43

The supreme leader of Afghanistan's Taliban said a grand council of Islamic clerics

would decide whether to hand over bin Laden. The Federal Reserve cut its key interest

rate to try to keep the economy from plunging into a recession. Investors sent stocks

reeling on Wall Street's first day of trading since the attacks. The list of people FBI

wanted detained in the United States and abroad grew to nearly 200. In the afternoon,

President Bush made his speech “Islam is Peace” at Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.,

he said: “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all

about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and

war.”

October 7, 2001

America began the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. President Bush addressed nation on

television: “On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al Qaeda

terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in

Afghanistan. These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of

Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the

Taliban regime.” Later, the American television networks broadcast a statement from

Osama Bin Laden pre­taped in anticipation of the U.S. move and delivered to the Arabian

al­Jazeera television network.

October 10, 2001

44

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice asked the American television networks to

edit the videotaped statements by Osama bin Laden and his followers rather than

broadcast them live and in their entirely.

45

Chapter V

Technologies of Television Medium in 2001

­­­The Arrival of “the Instantaneous Communications”

The technologies of the television medium have made enormous progress over the

past four decades, since the formation of the first television society in history. Today’s

viewers enjoy a more miraculous world that television creates than anyone could ever

imagine. The widespread use of color television since late 1960s and the advent of high­

definition television (HDTV) and digital television since 1980s provide viewers with

better video and audio qualities that greatly attract the public to get information from

television. Most importantly, the dramatic strides of media technology has made by the

television industry not only result in more media outlets providing the public with a

variety of information but also push the television news coverage onto a stage of the

instantaneous communications. The cable television system, communication satellites,

electronic newsgathering equipment (ENG) and the recent videophone form the core of

instantaneous communications.

During the early stages of television development, people living far away from

cities or places where television stations were located could receive only blurred pictures

on their televisions because of the interference caused by the long distance. In the late

1940s, people placed large antennas on hilltops high above the average terrain in the

outlying areas, from which distant television signals could then be carried by wires into

home television receivers. By doing this, hundreds of thousands of home television

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receivers in the rural areas could receive television signals with better quality. At that

time, cable television was called “community antenna television (CATV). Today, the

cable television system is more complex and has been much improved. For example,

before the 1980s, most cable systems transmitted electronic television signals via coaxial

cable which could only allow a limited number of channels. The use of fiber­optic

technology today solves this problem. Fiber optics can handle as many as 1000 channels

without interference. Richard Campbell (1998) explains how cable television works: in a

cable system, television signals are processed at a computerized nerve center, or headend,

which operates various large satellite dishes that receive and process long­distance

signals from one television station to another. In addition, the headend houses receiving

equipment that can pick up signals from a local television station or from a nearby city’s

television station. It relays each channel, local network affiliate, independent station, and

public television signal along its own separate line. After “downlinking” various channels

from satellite and pulling in nearby stations from the airwaves, headend computers relay

them to a community in the same way that telephone calls and electric power reach the

home. Most television channels are relayed from the headend through trunk and feeder

cables attached to existing utility poles. Cable companies rent space on these poles from

phone and electric companies. Signals are then transmitted to drop or tap lines that run

from the utility poles into homes. As television signals move from drop lines to television

sets, they may pass through a cable converter box, which inputs each channel and enables

the television set to receive 30 to 120 signals. 75

75 Campbell, R. (1998). Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. NY: St. Martin’s Press.

47

Cable News Network (CNN) is one of the most important innovations since the

establishment of the cable networks and one of the biggest achievements in cable

television during the final quarter of the 20th century. In 1960, fewer than 2 percent of

American television households had cable television. By 1981, over 23 million American

homes were hooked up to cable. Nielsen reported that, by 1984, 42.5 percent

(35,738,000) of U.S. television households were wired for cable. 76 Long before Ted

Turner was thinking about establishing this around­the­clock cable news channel, he had

foreseen the potential and bright future of cable television. Launched in June, 1980, as a

relatively small television news organization compared to other major networks, CNN

has experienced a variety of difficulties and setbacks. However, “by 1990, Ted Turner's

24 hour­a­day creation had become a major source for breaking news. Praise became so

routine that few were surprised when a mid­1990s Roper survey found viewers ranked

CNN as the "most fair" among all TV outlets, and the Times Mirror's Center for The

People & The Press found viewers trusted CNN more than any television news

organization.” 77 Today, besides reaching 56 million household domestically, CNN has

grown into the biggest global news network. 78

While broadcast and cable networks are mushrooming, television viewers are

demanding more news and information from these different outlets. To fulfill that need of

the audiences, the news organizations are more eager than ever to get the cutting­edge

news gathering and reporting equipment that enables them to inform the public by

76 Gamble, M.W. & Gamble, T.K. (1989). Introducing Mass Communication (2 nd Ed.).NY: McGraw­Hill, Inc. P228. 77 Gomery, D. (1997) Cable News Network. In Newcomb, H & O'Dell, C. The Encyclopedia of Television, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. 78 Malko, C. (1990). CNN Celebrate Tenth Anniversary. Multichannel News. May 21, 1990, P63.

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bringing them the news from anywhere and at anytime. Towards this end, Electronic

News Gathering equipment (ENG) was born in the mid­1970s and was then rapidly used

by most of the television stations in the United States. 79 Before 1970s, television news

depended heavily on film, rather than videotape. Film was cumbersome and

inconvenient. It demanded bulky cameras, and elaborate processing and editing. It could

not be reused. When coupled with ENG, videotape not only allowed for ease of editing,

but gave camera crews and reporters greater mobility. Therefore, the time gap between

when reporters got to a news event and when that event was presented to audiences

became significantly lessened, and at times disappeared, because of ENG. Sophisticated

videotape cameras could be coupled to microwave relay units mounted on vehicles or

helicopters, permitting news or stories to be fed back to the stations for editing or even

fed live, as on­the­spot coverage of breaking events. 80 Since the forte of ENG is its ability

to record many pictures anywhere and get them on the air very quickly, the television

industry has developed the capability to report many events within hours or minutes, or,

live. Therefore, news becomes more visual, immediate, and interesting.

ENG may have revolutionized television news, but no more so than the

communications satellite. Audiences have come to expect instantaneous coverage of

events from every corner of the globe. 81 Before the launch of the synchronous or

geostationary communication satellites, the early communication satellites, such as

Telstar and Relay, worked only for a few hours a day, “when they passed over the

79 Paterson,C.(1997). News, Local and Regional. In Newcomb, H& O’Dell, C. The Encyclopedia of Television. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. 80 Black, J.& Whitney, F.C. P306. 81 Black, J & Whitney, F.C. P306.

49

regions—or footprints—they were serving.” 82 In 1965, the launching of the

communications satellite, Early Bird, into synchronous orbit, marked the full­scale

commercial operation of communications satellite. By the early 1970s, a real sense of the

international communication system had emerged, with several synchronous satellites in

fixed positions over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. According to Richard

Campbell of Middle Tennessee State University, today, about 65 percent of satellite use

is for television, news, and cable services. Communications satellite plays an essential

role in connecting television stations nationwide. For instance, there are approximately

860 television stations in the U.S. that produce news programming. ABC, CBS and NBC

have about 200 affiliates each. Most of those 860 stations are also affiliated with CNN,

which has a total of 677 affiliates. Usually, those major broadcast networks and cable

networks provide a video wire service in the form of satellite feeds for their affiliates.

Meanwhile, breaking news, such as news of the September 11 terrorist attacks, reported

by one affiliate could be quickly or instantly distributed to other affiliates or even other

nation’s television stations through satellites.

The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. brought

the public attentions to instantaneous news coverage. One of the most high profile

technologies the television news media had used in these events was the videophone

technology. As the live images from New York, Washington D.C. and even from

Afghanistan were delivered to American households, for the first time in history, “the

82 Campbell, R. P165.

50

satellite videophone is changing the face of international television reporting” in such a

dramatic way. 83

The videophone’s debut dates back to the April of 2001. It delivered American

audiences the images of U.S. spy­plane crew leaving China’s Hainan province days after

the plane’s colliding with a Chinese fighter. The videophone is “a good first resource to

use while we transport our uplink and set it up,” says Frank Governale, CBS News Vice

President for Operations. 84 Videophone technology, when coupled with satellite phones

or high­speed telephone lines, can enable television reporters to travel in remote areas

and send back live news accounts. The device, which can be powered by a car battery,

has connections for both video and audio. Its crucial function is to take the images from a

video camera and compress them, and then provide an output signal that can be

transmitted with telephone equipment. 85 The phone relays the signal via a

communications satellite parked in geostationary orbit at 22,300 miles above the earth.

Although it has low image quality because of the low transmission rate, its unique

feature is that it is easy to set up and to broadcast news live from anywhere, in any

situation. Traditional portable satellite dishes weigh more than a half ton and have about

13 components; the videophone itself is about the size of a laptop computer but twice as

thick. Its components fit into four suitcases and can be assembled or broken down in

minutes. It needs neither those bulky uplink trucks one encounters outside courthouses or

83 The Changing face of Live News Broadcasting. International Broadcast Engineer (IBE). October, 2001. Issue 322. P7. 84 Wasserman, E. (2001). The Videophone War. American Journalism Review. November, 2001, Vol23, P22. 85 Gruner, S. (2001). Reporters Use Videophones From World’s Hot Spot. The Wall Street Journal. Tuesday, December 4 th , 2001. Vol.238. B11F.

51

public buildings where news is breaking, nor fixed transmission facilities. “They may not

have been the world’s greatest pictures, but they were live,” says Peter Beardow, the

managing director of 7E Communication Ltd., which makes the device.

Today’s media technologies provide television journalists with more powerful

tools and more opportunities in news reporting than ever before. During the national

crisis of the September 11 terrorist attacks and its aftermath, these technologies of the

instantaneous communications were widely and intensively used to cover the events and

to help the nation and its people cope with this catastrophe. On the day of terror, in New

York City, the cable television system still functioned throughout the crisis and served

the city after most of the broadcast signals went to dark; 86 From the rescue scenes at New

York City and Washington D.C. to the Taliban news conference in the capital of

Afghanistan, the ENG, satellite and videophone technologies provided people all over the

world with great opportunities to see the side of justice as well as the side of evil

simultaneously.

However, these new media technologies also bring some new challenges to

television media, especially in a time of national crisis. After all, instantaneous

communications technology cannot fully demonstrate its potential advantages unless the

television media know how to fully utilize it to benefit themselves and the public. The

events of the September 11 terrorist attacks are good examples of how television media,

with the use of these modern technologies, have changed its roles in a time of national

crisis.

86 BLAIR, J. (2001). For Many Since the Attack, No Cable Means No TV. The New York Times, October 4 th , 2001. Section B. P9.

52

Chapter VI

Television Media and the September 11 Terrorist Attacks

­­­The Television Coverage of the First National Crisis in the 21 st Century

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, started as a clear morning in New York and

Washington D.C.. However, at 8:45 a.m., when the first commercial airplane crashed into

the north tower of the World Trade Center, the day then became what Dan Rather, CBS

news anchorman, described as one of the darkest days in the history of the United States.

The September 11 terrorist attacks happened so suddenly and “terminated in the most

deadly, most damaging case of terrorism in history.” 87 No one, at that time, could ever

predict or believe such a horrible thing could actually happen except those terrorists who

planned and carried out these attacks. Although the broadcast and cable television

networks usually had some plans to deal with emergency or crisis situations even before

September 11 of 2001, they had never expected these attacks would take place on such an

extraordinary scale. “We are trained when something happens to know what to do,” said

Steve Friedman, Senior Executive Producer of CBS, “but nothing could train you for

this.” 88 Just like the rest of us, reporters and anchors of the American television media

were deeply shocked on the day of September 11. “What?” Peter Jennings of ABC was

so stunned when he heard that one of the World Trade Centers had just collapsed. 89 Due

to the overwhelming amount of information flowing at an extremely high speed, there

87 Nacos, B.L. (2002).Mass­mediated terrorism: the central role of the media in terrorism and counterterrorism. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. P33. 88 Robertson, L. (2001). We have a breaking story. American Journalism Review. October 2001. Vol.23. P.20. 89 James, C. (2001). Live Images Make Viewers Witnesses to Horror. The New York Times. September 12 th , 2001. Vol150. PA25.

53

was no way that a television network could follow the normal process of reporting,

analyzing and editing news. Sometimes, just simply passing raw information to the public

could be a wise idea considering the precious time may mean that a life could be saved if

a certain type of blood was needed urgently; sometimes, raw reporting could also create

flawed information, which would cause some kind of damage to others. There is such a

dilemma for journalists to deal with in a time of crisis or emergency. The extent to which

they can successfully deal with this is no longer just a question of experience or being

ethical or not. It has become a question of how the media can help manage the crisis

situation since September 11, 2001. “Every decision we make is minute­by­minute,” said

Leslie Moonves, President of Viacom Inc.’s CBS unit. 90 To journalism, such an extreme,

traumatic, and critical situation as September 11 requires both immediacy and credibility.

This is a special task that no journalist had really experienced before September 11.

However, while facing such an unprecedented challenge, many journalists of the

television networks did not let the chaos and their inevitable personal emotions stop or

even interrupt their continuous work; instead, they stayed calm most of the time and

showed their professional capabilities.

Almost seconds after the beginning of this national crisis, the major television

networks, NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN, started to assume the unusual and critical

responsibilities of disseminating all relevant and important information to the public,

establishing a close contact between the leaders and people, and taking part in the relief

efforts.

90 Beatty, S & Flint, J. (2001).TV Ratings Reflect Nation’s Focus As Coverage Remains Continuous. The Wall Street Journal. September 13 th , 2001, Vol.238. PB6.

54

At the early stage of national crisis, the main tasks of media outlets are to collect

all kinds of information available, to “draw” a clear picture of what was or is happening

from sources, and then carefully and cautiously to pass information to the public.

Usually, at this stage, there are few or no immediate official confirmations of any kind

from the government or any other reliable sources because of the sudden nature of

terrorism. Terrorist acts always take place so swiftly and devastatingly that no one could

have fully prepared for it, especially the September 11 terrorist attacks. In many cases,

the government even has to rely on the news media to provide the latest development and

relevant information. At the early stage of a national crisis, typically, several major

emergency measures could be taken within a major television network to cope with the

chaotic situation: (a) strengthen the cooperation on live coverage of the news with the

local television stations or affiliates; (b) get information from reporters who happen to be

on the scene(s); (c) send news team(s) to the scene(s) or place(s) close to the scene(s),

and (d) interview eyewitnesses to get their descriptions of the situation. By doing so, the

first account of what has happened and the latest development of the situation could be

established. The event of the September 11 terrorist attacks is an example of how the

television media resort to their own crisis management strategy in a time of national

crisis.

Hearing that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center, almost

instantaneously, television journalists managed to report the first piece of the shocking

news to their viewers. Television correspondents and news anchors were stunned by this

sudden catastrophe. However, they did not show any sign of panic in front of the camera.

Thousands of millions of audiences saw their calm and reassuring appearances on

55

television during this critical time; a sense of business­as­usual was transmitted to the

viewers through the continuous and concentrated news coverage. Their performance did

convey such a message to the public that a strong nation had not been disintegrated. They

reported as cautiously and accurately as possible. With all kinds of information at hand,

the television networks did not forget to remind viewers the limited amount of

information they had collected by then. When the reporters and anchors expressed their

personal opinions, they stressed that those personal thoughts were just “speculations” so

that misunderstandings in reporting could be minimized and the viewers would be

reminded to make their own judgments on any information they received at the moment.

On ABC, Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson were hosting “Good Morning

America” show when the first attack happened in New York. Not far away, Don Dahler,

an ABC news correspondent, was getting dressed for work at home in Tribeca, about half

a mile from the World Trade Center. When he heard the first plane hit, he called into

ABC using his cellular phone. ABC responded immediately and suspended all the

regularly scheduled programs. Around 8:51a.m., right after being alerted to the breaking

news, Diane Sawyer told viewers of the show in a cautious manner:

“We want to tell you what we know as we know it. But we just got a report in that

there's been some sort of explosion at the World Trade Center in New York City. One

report said­­and we can't confirm any of this­­that a plane may have hit one of the two

towers of the World Trade Center. But again, you're seeing the live pictures here. We

have no further details than that. We don't know anything about what they have

56

concluded happened there this morning but we're going to find out. And, of course, make

sure that everybody knows on the air.”

Co­anchor, Charles Gibson, also emphasized that no more details were available

about the incident at that point although he mentioned the terrorism of the 1993 World

Trade Center bombing. 91

On NBC’s “Today Show”, Matt Lauer was interviewing Richard Hack, author of

the book “Hughes”. After being told that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center,

Matt Lauer told Richard Hack and the viewers: “ok, I have to interrupt you now… we’re

going to go live right now and show you a picture of the World Trade Center, where I

understand—do we have it? We have a breaking story…” 92 After a short break, anchor

Katie Couric continued to tell viewers that "apparently" a plane had crashed into the

tower and then she interviewed a witness on the phone. Meanwhile, CNN's Amanda Lang

was reporting from the New York Stock Exchange; back in the CNN center at Atlanta,

chief news executive Eason Jordan was in the middle of the network's daily morning

meeting.

"Suddenly, our New York managing editor (Edith Chapin) started screaming at

the top of her lungs that there was a report that a plane had just hit the World Trade

Center," said Jordan, "we looked up at all of the TV monitors and there was nothing­­just

the usual sort of 8:40ish­ type programming."

91 Transcript of ABC’s “Good Morning America”. September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe. 92 Transcript of NBC’s “Today Show”. September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

57

Jordan and other staffers in the conference room ran into the newsroom. By the

time they got there, the New York City bureau had already pointed a camera from the

balcony of its 22nd­floor offices toward the burning building about three miles

downtown. 93

When CBS’ “The Early Show” was airing an update about the winners of its

“Week of Wishes” contest, Senior Executive Producer Steve Friedman and other staff in

the control room looked up at monitors that showed views from “Early Show” cameras

throughout the city. They saw smoke coming out of one of the World Trade Center.

“Smoke,” he says, “not fire.” Then they called their local affiliate in New York, WCBS,

and got the confirmation that a plane had just hit one of the twin towers. Soon after, from

WCBS, a live picture of the north tower of World Trade Center belching out black smoke

appeared on CBS. New anchorman Bryant Gumbel announced this breaking news in

front of the camera:

“It’s 8:52 here in New York, I’m Bryant Gumbel. We understand that there has

been a plane crash on the southern tip of Manhattan…We understand that a plane has

crashed into the World Trade Center.

93 Nashawaty, C.; Cruz, C.; Davis, C.; Flynn, G.& Raftery, B. M.. News Coverage. Entertainment Weekly, September 28, 2001. Issue 617. P22.

58

We don’t know anything more than that. We don’t know if it was a commercial

aircraft. We don’t know if it was a private aircraft. We have no idea how many were on

board or what the extent of the injuries are.” 94

A moment later, Gumbel connected one of the eyewitnesses on the phone to get a

description of the situation. Throughout the day, anchors of all major networks

interviewed witnesses over the phones as well as getting information from their own

reporters. Looking at the live images on the television screen, Charles Gibson of ABC

said to the audiences, “we know so little now, other than what we can see from these

pictures.” By interviewing as many eyewitnesses as possible, the television media could

tell their audiences more than what the people could see from their television screens. As

Peter Jennings said later when he was reporting the attack on the Pentagon: “again, we

have to say that sometimes the camera and the eye don't see precisely what is happening

(By interviewing eyewitnesses), every story helps us to put together a picture of what

actually has happened.” 95 At this early stage of the national crisis, the footage of the

World Trade Center which was hit by the first plane was still not available on the

television. Television viewers as well as the journalists were not only terrified by what

they saw but also confused by what had happened. People were asking: “How could a

plane hit the World Trade Center in such a good and clear day?”; “Is that a missile or

plane?”; “What kind of plane was that?” The interviews with eyewitnesses, therefore,

94 CBS New Transcript, September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe. 95 Transcript of ABC News Special Report: America under Attack, September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

59

could tell journalists and the television viewers what they did not see at the moment, in

other words, people got a better idea of what had happened.

People were staring at the terrifying image of the north tower belching out black

smoke and talking about the unbelievable “accident”. However, about seventeen minutes

later, unbelievably, they witnessed on television the second hijacked airliner crashing into

the second tower of the World Trade Center.

As the heartland of the media industry, New York City boasts many excellent

journalists who are always ready to do their jobs anywhere at any time. Their

professional sensitivity and commitment to journalism made a difference on September

11, 2001 and in the days following. Their quick response to the emergency helped

information flow unimpeded in a time of a big crisis like this and unite the people across

the nation. In the early stage of this national crisis, a lot of valuable information that

describes and possibly interprets the situation came from those television reporters who

happened to be on the scene or were close to the scene. For example, Elliot Walker, an

NBC producer, also lived near the World Trade Center. When he heard the loud sound of

the plane crashing into the north tower, he was walking down the sidewalk delivering his

young daughter to school. Without hesitation, he called into the NBC immediately and

began to report. 96 When Katie Couric, an NBC anchor, was asking him questions about

evacuation at the World Trade Center site, the second plane hit another tower of the

96 Based from NBC News Transcript, September 11, 2001. The database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

60

World Trade Center. Walker was stunned: “Oh, another one [plane] just hit. Something

else just hit, a very large plane just flew directly over my building…”

On ABC, Don Dahler was also on the scene reporting the situation resulted from

the first attack when the second attack took place. Just like the other reporters, he could

not believe his eyes while looking at the tragedy happening. The emotional term of “Oh,

My God!” are the first words he could express. Then Charles Gibson, ABC anchor,

asserted, “concerted effort to attack the World Trade Center that is under way in

downtown New York.” 97

Back in networks’ studios, the anchors were shocked just as deeply as those

correspondents on the scene while hearing the description from the eyewitnesses. They

could not just believe what they saw on the television screen.

On CBS, when the second plane hit the south tower, Bryant Gumbel was

interviewing the third eyewitness about the situation of the north tower.

Gumbel continued: “…I understand Theresa Renaud is with us right now.

Ms.Renaud, good morning. This is Bryant Gumbel; I’m down on 59 th and 5 th . Where are

you?”

97 Transcript of ABC News Special Report, September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­ Nexis Academic Universe.

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Theresa Renaud: “I am in Chelsea, and we are at 8 th and 16 th . We’re in the tallest

building in the area, and my window faces south, so it looks directly onto the World

Trade Center. Approximately ten minutes ago there was a major explosion from about the

80 th floor—looks like it’s affected probably four to eight floors. Major flames are coming

out of the north side and also the east side of the building. It was a very loud explosion,

followed by flames, and it looks like the building is still on fire on the inside. …Oh,

there’s another one—another plane just hit. [Gasps; yelling] Oh, my God! Another plane

has just hit—it hit another building, flew right into the middle of it. My God, it’s right in

the middle of the building.”

Gumbel: “This one into [Tower 2]?”

Renaud: “Yes, yes, right in the middle of the building…That was definitely…on

purpose.”

Gumbel: Why do you say that was definitely on purpose?”

Renaud: “Because it just flew straight into it.” 98

After 9:03 a.m., all networks showed again and again the images of the second

Word Trade Center being hit by a second plane. Because there were only 17 minutes

between the two plane crashes, many viewers including the reporters were still talking

98 CBS News. (2002). What We Saw: The Events of September 11, 2001, in Words, Pictures, and Video. [videotape]. NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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about the first “accident” during this period of time. Immediately, people realized that

was not accidents, but real terrorist acts. At this point, all the news personalities quickly

responded these happenings by taking the emergency measures. After 9:43 a.m., when

the American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, all the networks also

broadcast live pictures of the Pentagon with lots of smoke after the attacks. Television

screens were divided into two parts. One is the live picture of the damaged Pentagon and

the other is the Twin Towers. Because of the fact that there was no video footage

available at the time when the American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon,

journalists and audiences could only see an image of the Pentagon with a portion

damaged. Anchors in the studio, again, remained cautious in conveying the news to their

viewers.

Gumbel of CBS was shocked: “Oh, my God, we are looking at a live picture from

Washington and there is a smoke rising out of the Pentagon. It would appear that there is

another major explosion at the nation’s capital. Smoke over the Pentagon. We don’t

know whether this is a result of bomb or whether it is yet another aircraft that has

targeted this symbol of the United States power, but there is smoke rising out of the

Pentagon.” 99

Collecting information is not an easy task, even to the most experienced

journalists from the major networks. However, from the very beginning of this national

crisis, a variety of means and tools were used to guarantee the public or the viewers could

get the maximum amount of information. For example, CNN, like other major networks,

99 CBS News. (2002). What We Saw: The Events of September 11, 2001, in Words, Pictures, and Video. [videotape]. NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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had the advantage of their local affiliates, whose traffic helicopters had been hovering on

their morning rounds and quickly detoured to the lower tip of Manhattan. When the

second plane struck the World Trade Center, they all caught the disaster live. 100 Moments

after the attacks, dozens of microwave trucks, satellite trucks and camera crews lined the

streets near the World Trade Center site and the Pentagon and could not get into the

already crowed streets closer to the site. While most of the streets in the lower Manhattan

had to be cleared for the emergency vehicles and equipments, hours later, most news and

traffic helicopters, believed to number under 200 nationwide, had been demanded to be

grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration. Videophone, at this moment, greatly

helped reporters fulfill their goal of gathering and recording valuable information. CNN

deployed all eight of its satellite videophones including some that were used at downtown

Manhattan because the loss of the transmitters on the top of the World Trade Center

made live reports there difficult. Although the images videophone conveyed, sometimes,

were jerky, Eason Jordan, CNN’s chief news executive, said, “Some information is better

than no information.”

In the rural area of Pittsburgh where the hijacked United Flight 93 crashed shortly

after the FAA halted all flight operations nationwide, the only news crew that could reach

the scene were Pittsburgh’s local television stations, KDKA­TV, WTAE­TV, WCCP­TV,

WATM­TV and WTAJ­TV. 101 One of their local reporters said that they had the

advantage of knowing where they were going. From the crash site, “There’s nothing

there” reported Al Blinke, news director at KDKA­TV Pittsburg, but the tragic scene and

100 Nashawaty, C. and etc., P22. 101 Trigoboff, D. (2001). Pa. TV Stations play their parts. Broadcasting & Cable, September 17 th , 2001. Vol.131. P10.

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the news story were still delivered to the major networks by the local affiliates.

Therefore, these local stations took an extraordinary task of conveying the important

information to the nation.

In times of national crisis, the public do not want to miss any piece of important

information, nor do the television networks. After the first terrorist attack, all networks

were busy collecting amateur video, including close­ups of both planes crashing into the

two towers from different angles. One of the most famous examples is the footage of

American Airlines Flight 11 piercing the north tower of the World Trade Centers, which

is the only record showing the tragic moment of the first attack on September 11. The

film clip came from a camera operator who was making a training film for firefighters in

the street near the World Trade Center. When he heard a low­flying plane, the

cameraman aimed his lens from the firefighters’ working scene up at the tower just in

time to catch the impact. J.P. Pappis, editor of the Gamma Press agency, bought the

footage for an undisclosed price. Later that day, CNN and Associated Press Television

News both got the rights to use the footage on television.

Since the rate of information flow increased very rapidly, all television networks

adopted around­the­clock blanket coverage to cover the crisis and to convey, in a timely

manner, important information to public as well as to authorities. The cost of dropping all

commercials is astronomical. All networks combined were estimated losing $50 million

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to $75 million a day in advertising, or between $200 million and $300 million for the first

four days of coverage. 102

Within each major broadcast and cable network, news coverage was shared in the

hours after the attack. ESPN carried reports from its sister Disney property, ABC. CBS

coverage ran on MTV and VH1, all three are owned by media conglomerate Viacom.

PAX ran coverage from its corporate parent NBC. CNN, now owned by AOL­Time

Warner, began simulcasting on TBS, TNT and CNNfn at about 10 a.m. “(that is)

something the network has never done before,” said Walter Isaacson, chairman and chief

executive of the CNN News Group. Meanwhile, Don, Hewitt, executive producer of

CBS’s “60 Minutes,” first proposed an idea of seeking a treaty on competition. CBS

News President Andrew Heyward agreed and called ABC, NBC and CNN. All networks

agreed to share information and make all their video images available to one another in

this special moment. Even radio stations took live television news. 103 Erik Sorenson,

president of MSNBC, NBC and Microsoft’s cable channel, explained the importance of

sharing information within and among networks. He said: “National interest must be

served in a story of this magnitude. Standard competitive issues fall by the wayside and

the need to inform thoroughly takes priority.” 104 The blanket news coverage on all

television networks undoubtedly met the demand of the public for more updated

information on situation.

102 McClellan, S. The High Cost of Coverage. Broadcasting & Cable, September 17 th , 2001. Vol131.P8. 103 The New York Times. Wednesday, September 12, 2001, A25. 104 Flint, J. & Beatty, Sally; Broadcast, Cable Networks Call a Truce, Agreeing to Cooperate to Get Story Out. The Wall Street Journal. September 12, 2001. Vol.238. PA6.

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One phenomenon in time of national crisis is that the public as well as the

authorities heavily rely on the public communication system. After the first air strike on

the World Trade Center, the telephone system was not working properly and, for some

period of time, it broke down simply because a flood of phone calls clogged lines.

Television and radio then became the only channels for the anxious people to get the

latest information. For example, Vice President Dick Cheney was the next in line of

succession to the presidency. For the safety concern, Vice President Cheney could not be

together with President Bush physically in times of national crisis. Therefore, one of the

important ways for the Vice President to get information about the President’s activity

was through television. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer admitted that Vice

President watched Bush’s addresses on television from an undisclosed location. Bearing

such enormous responsibilities as well as physical and psychological pressures,

journalists, especially correspondents on the scenes tried to glean all kinds of information

and sift the wrong ones from the facts. However, mistakes still emerged simply because

of the lack of official sources that could confirm information at the moment. “The very

nature of live, blanket coverage of fast­moving events can be journalistically dangerous,”

said David Bohrman, senior executive producer of CNN. “Because raw information isn’t

always accurate information. That’s sort of what we do, I guess: evaluate and make

decisions.” 105 Relying interviewing witnesses and getting all sorts of information from

their reporters on the scenes, obviously the media outlets themselves were unable to

prove all incoming information right away either. All they could do is to correct most of

105 Rutenberg, J. (2001). Some Flawed Information Occasionally Creeps In. The New York Times. September 17, 2001, Pc4.

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the flawed information and convey the updated information after getting more details

during the second stage of organized response to the national crisis.

For instance, on September 11, 2001, approximately 9:40 eastern time, CNN

reported a car bomb had just exploded at the State Department, which turned out not true

later and was corrected then. 106 At night, CBS reported a piece of news originated by its

New York affiliate, WCBS, that “a van filled with explosives had been found on the

George Washington Bridge.” Later, CBS corrected it when the fact turned out to be “men

in a van were detained but the vehicle did not contain explosives.”

Though some mistakes emerged from news outlets from the start of the crisis,

flawed information kept appearing during the early stage of the crisis and even later.

Early Wednesday morning, Bryant Gumbel of CBS reported some victims were still alive

and they had been using cell phones to call search teams from the bottom of the rubbles.

On Thursday, September 13, 2001, ABC, among other electronic news organizations,

reported that 10 police officers were still alive underneath the rubble at the World Trade

Center. By Friday morning, things had changed. There were no surviving police officers.

“Tips are sometimes reported as they are received and correspondents and

anchors convey information as they are developing it. Sometimes it pans out, and

sometimes it does not. There have been reports of survivors that have turned out to be

untrue. Still On Thursday, CNN reported that several firefighters were rescued from the

106 From CNN’s Transcript “CNN Breaking News: Terrorism Strikes in the United States in a Massive Attack”. September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

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wreckage at the World Trade Center. The report was wrong. The rescue workers who

emerged from the rubble had actually become trapped just 15 minutes earlier. There were

only two of them. But the sight of their emergence was misunderstood by many who saw

it. Those people apparently passed erroneous information along to people at the scene, to

some police officers and ultimately, to reporters.” 107

No matter whether in crisis management or in other special circumstances,

leadership is always one of the keys in achieving the success of overcoming the

difficulties and obstacles. September 11 and its aftermath tested the leaders of the nation

as well as the leadership role the television media played in a crisis situation. President

George W. Bush and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, undoubtedly, played a central

role in leading the nation into the right direction. Television had been capturing their

every move since the first attack. Their appearance on television on September 11 gave

the public confidence to face the unprecedented challenge. Meanwhile, national and local

leaders themselves had to face a crisis that transcended nearly any nightmare they could

ever imagined, and the one that called upon them to summon leadership skills they had

never tested. 108 Less than an hour after the first attack, President Bush, in a Florida

elementary school at the time, appeared on television for the first time on the day. He was

surrounded by some school children to whom he had been reading a book when he was

informed that the World Trade Centers were hit by two planes. President Bush tried to

keep everyone calm and told reporters that he would talk about the situation later because

he did not want to scare the children. Major Garrett, CNN White House correspondent,

107 Rutenberg, Pc4. 108 Seib, G. (2001). Without Notice, History Hits Bush With Severe Test. The Wall Street Journal. September 12, 2001, Vol.238, PA20.

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described on television at the moment: “well, precisely, and the president has a way of

letting reporters know that it’s either an appropriate time or inappropriate time to take

questions. He does that in many different environments, many different situations.

Clearly this morning, with a crowd of children, he wanted to keep an even keel, keep the

situation under control as best as possible. He just nodded and said—we’ll talk about this

later.” 109 At 9:30p.m., President Bush made his first brief speech on television after the

crisis at the elementary school in Florida.

On CBS, Dan Rather described to the television viewers: “President Bush has

called the deliberate aerial assaults, quote, ‘an apparent terrorist attack.’ He has, of

course, ordered full­scale investigation. The president, at last report, was flying from

Florida, where he was on a visit, back to an unknown destination. There certainly is a

school of thought in Washington that runs—he should return immediately to the White

House, the symbol of stability and all that we hold door, and walk right into the White

House and take command there. Another school of thought is, ‘well, that may not be such

a good idea.’ We’ll see where he goes. In the meantime, Vice President Dick Cheney is

in charge at the White House in the Situation Room.” 110

President Bush’s first speech on television is very concise: he first defined the

attacks on the World Trade Center as terrorism. He assured the American public that the

government was running as usual, and, specifically, he also briefly mentioned that his

109 CNN Breaking News, September 11, 2001. 110 CBS News Transcript. September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

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immediate plan, that is, to go back to the White House to deal with the crisis. President

Bush’s very short speech showed the urgent actions the situation required. In the early

stage of the national crisis, to the public, it seems that it is more important to see the

appearance of the national leader to have a sense that the situation will soon be under

control and the government will respond to its greatest extent. To some extent, President

Bush, on the day of September 11, 2001, achieved a goal of calming the public and

informing public the possible measures his cabinet would take accordingly.

Hours later, President Bush made his second speech of the day. Departed from

Florida, his plane arrived at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where he made his

videotaped speech mainly informing the whereabouts of the president. In his second

speech, President Bush, once again, reassured the American people that full resources of

the federal government were working to assist the local authorities to save lives and to

help the victims of the attacks and the government had been managing the crisis. Many

critics held that the second statement President Bush made on television was not as

reassuring as his first live appearance in Florida because it was taped and only live video

images could offer “a sense of stability and a sense of future.” 111 Even “the audio of the

tape of Bush’s second speech was not working when some networks first played that

tape, which created an ominous sense that things were not under control as much as he

said.” 112 However, to the public, only knowing the whereabouts of the president, in a time

like this, was the one of the most important things, apparently, the media networks

understood this. Reporters had been tracking the whereabouts of the president all day

111 Caryn James, Live Images Make Viewers Witnesses to Horror, New York Times, September 12, 2001. 112 Caryn, J.PA25.

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since the attacks. Sometimes, assumptions were even made about the president if there

was no clue. For example, on CBS, right before President Bush made the second speech,

an anchor was saying:

“…Well, we thought the president was flying back to Washington from Florida.”

that was the widespread assumption, but assumption is the mother of a lot of erroneous

reporting. And in this case, the assumption proved to be incorrect because the president,

for reasons not yet explained, but no doubt will be explained, flew from Florida to

Barksdale Air Force outside Shreveport, Louisiana.” 113

Tuesday night, President Bush addressed to the nation live on television at the

White House. This speech is his third speech on the day of September 11 and is relatively

longer and more eloquent than the previous two statements he made during the day. The

third live­televised national speech is far more important. First of all, the American

public saw their national leader, President Bush, was sitting in his White House office

where he usually works, which created a strong sense of stability or a feeling that

government had begun to control the whole situation. “The most important fact about

President Bush’ TV address last night (Tuesday night) wasn’t what he said but where he

said it.” 114 Second, from Bush’s speech, the public saw unity they had been looking for.

113 CBS News Transcript. September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

114 Civility Amid Chaos. The Wall Street Journal. September 12, 2001, Vol. 238. PA18.

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Bush said: “I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined

me in strongly condemning these attacks… America and our friends and allies join with

all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war

against terrorism… This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our

resolve for justice and peace.” 115

Third, Bush’s Tuesday night speech revealed the crisis management of the

government, that is, dealing with the work of rescue, relief, investigation and retaliation.

On the fourth day after the September 11, President Bush, for the first time after

the attacks, toured the site of the World Trade Center. It became what The Boston Globe

said,“a shift from TV's rhetorical arena to its realm of visual symbolism.” There,

President Bush saluted the police, firemen and rescue workers and made remarks to them.

The scenes were nationally televised on all broadcast and cable television networks. Bush

draped his arm around a firefighter, spoke through a bullhorn and made the interactive

remarks with the rescue workers in the disaster. All of these created a powerful image of

unity, strength and bravery. Boston University communications professor Tobe

Berkovitz said these potent television images had solidified Bush’s leadership role.

Looking at the television screen showing President Bush’s visit to the World Trade

Center site, CNN’s Aaron Brown talked about the significance of this visit:

115 Statement by the President in His Address to the Nation. (8:30 P.M. EDT, September 11, 2001). Retrieved from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010911­16.html.

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“On a day when the government raised the specter that the terrorist assault may

not be over, that there may be more men out there, it was hard to find much to feel good

or safe about today. But there was this, one of those moments that seemed to change the

mood, if only for a while, here in New York. The president came to ground zero,

President George W. Bush, to see the disaster area and boost the morale of those whose

day had been so difficult, with the rain and all the rest. He talked to them, they

answered.”

On September 11 and the days in the aftermath, the three major broadcast

networks and cable­television networks assumed the special role of conveying important

information and messages from the government to the public, in other words, the

television medium is an important element in the government’s crisis management plan.

Authorities and government officials passed along important messages to the public

through television because of its immediacy and the capability of reaching the people

nationwide. New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, came to the scene supervising the

rescue work moments after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Throughout the day,

Mayor Rudy Giuliani also appeared frequently on television informing the public of the

progress of the rescue efforts and the development of the situation. Through New York 1,

CNN’s local affiliate in New York, Mayor Rudy Giuliani sent specific guideline to

people in the city of New York on how they could do to help rescue efforts.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani said: “Again, I would urge them (people in New York City)

to remain calm, to remain at home or to remain at their place of business, unless they’re

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in lower Manhattan. By that I mean south of Canal Street. If you’re south of Canal Street,

get out, walk, and walk slowly, carefully, there are plenty of police around, but just walk

directly—if you can’t figure out what else to do just walk directly north; that will get you

out of the dangerous smoke area; it will also do us a big favor, it will open up those

streets, because we’re going to (be) moving a large number of ambulances and

emergency personnel in and out of there all day.” 116

On CNN, Rudy Giuliani informed people nationwide on how to donate blood for

the victims:

“…Blood donations. We have several sites for blood donations: 153E. 53 rd St.;

66 th and Amsterdam, which is the Red Cross; and 310 E.67 th St. If people want to do

something, they can donate blood. That’s going to help, not just today, but tomorrow and

the next day. This relief effort is going to take some time.” 117

Also on ABC, CBS and NBC, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani repeatedly

reminded the American people that “the only thing to do now is to remain calm and try to

assist in the rescue effort.” He asked people to do anything they could to cooperate, not to

be frightened, and to go about their lives as normal.

116 Transcript of CNN Breaking News: America under Attack. September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe. 117 Transcript of CNN Breaking News: New York’s Governor And Major of New York City Address Concerns of the Damage. September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

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On September 11, 2001, the television news industry was among first victims who

suffered the immediate direct damages. Many radio and television stations had

transmitter towers on the top of the World Trade Center. Moments after the first

commercial airliner slammed into the north tower, the broadcast signals of almost every

major television station in the New York region went dark. Only CBS’s WCBS­TV was

able to stay on the air because of its backup transmitter and antenna at the Empire State

Building. Nearly 4.5 million people in the region who relied solely on the broadcasting

signals had the trouble in receiving television signals. Only the television viewers who

used cable or satellite in New York area did not have this sort of serious problem. 118

There had also been casualties within the television industry. For instance, Barbara

Olson, who died on the hijacked planes that smashed into the Pentagon, was a contributor

to CNN. At least two engineers from CBS’s New York affiliate were also killed in the

attacks when they were working inside the World Trade Center that morning. However,

the loss of the media industry did not stop after the terrorist attacks. Instead, the

television media industry began to loss more financially in the days coming after the

September 11. Because of the blanket news coverage of the events, commercials were

suspended on television for more than four days. Millions of ad revenues were lost since

then. However, in the following period of the organized response to the national crisis,

the television networks began to make direct financial contributions to the victims of the

September 11 terrorist attacks. On September 21 st , 2001, all major broadcast networks,

including ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, aired “America: A Tribute to Heroes,” a two­hour,

commercial­free simulcast from New York and Los Angeles. The networks claimed this

118 Grotticelli, M. (2001). After the Collapse, stations struggle. Broadcasting & Cable. September 17, 2001.Vol. 131. P20.

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“Telethon” to be “an unprecedented cooperative and collaborative effort.” In the U.S, this

telethon averaged 59.3 million viewers, while 89 million tuned in to some portion of the

telecast. This show, attended by many celebrities, was simulcast on 35 broadcast and

cable networks and in more than 156 countries on that day and raised over $150 million

in aid from viewers who called in donations. As part of the September 11th Fund,

founded by the New York Community Trust and United Way of New York City,

television media’s Telethon directly and financially helped victims, families and

communities rebuild and recover from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

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Chapter VII

American Television Media in the National Crises

­­­An Analysis of the Television Media’s Roles

The previous chapters have given us an insight into the behaviors of television

media in times of national crises. Through studying the first television coverage of

national crisis, the 1963 John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and the recent one, the

September 11 terrorist attacks, we are able to see the roles the television media played in

those most critical moments. During national crisis, the people and even the government

are more in need of immediate public information than at any other time. People also

want to know more information about the context of the crisis and the management of the

crisis. This includes directions from government officials, measures taken by the

government, and the rescue and relief efforts taken by various organizations. In addition,

people want background information. Under this special circumstance, the television

medium plays two roles: first, it plays the role of simply being a channel to disseminate

information to the public; second, the television medium, as a social institution, shoulders

many social responsibilities—from uniting the nation and helping the public cope with

the crisis to taking part in the government’s strategy of crisis management.

In times of such national crises as the 1963 John F. Kennedy’s assassination and

the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks, the enormous amount of information flowed at

an extremely high speed. The 1963 John F. Kennedy’s assassination and its aftermath is

the first televised national crisis in American history. The television medium, for the first

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time, demonstrated its capability of dealing with the national crisis. On September 11,

2001, the three major broadcast networks, plus the cable television networks, experienced

a national crisis event whose impacts were extraordinarily devastating. The specific

behaviors of television media in times of these two events are different because of the

two different circumstances; however, there are some similar patterns the television

media used in dealing with the national crises. The television media acquired and used

their tactics of crisis management through their own experience in covering the national

crises.

Whenever a national crisis arises, unity is always among the first and also the

most important goal everyone in the nation expects. In 1963, after the assassination,

many journalists rushed to Parkland hospital where the President Kennedy was being

treated. All the broadcast networks, in the early afternoon of that day, were frequently

showing pictures of a big crowd gathering outside of the hospital anxiously waiting for

news about President Kennedy’s condition. CBS showed images of the grief­stricken

people including congressmen, senators, women and children. KRLD­TV news

anchorman, Bob Huffaker, said, at the moment, that: “(it is) a scene of indescribable

sadness and horror.” However, it was these pictures of sadness, horror, or even anger

among all the public that also sent a message to the nation and the world that the

American people shared the same grief over the loss of the President whom they loved,

and American people were united at that critical moment. On September 11, 2001,

shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center, President George W. Bush appeared

on television making his first statement in regard to the terrorist attacks. The camera did

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not zoom in to get a close­up of President Bush’s facial expression when he was making

this brief and somber speech. Instead, the television audiences saw an image of President

Bush surrounded by schoolchildren, faculty, staff and many other people. Those people

standing behind the President represented united Americans supporting their national

leader in a time of national crisis. At that moment, the vision created by the tableau of the

president and the citizens standing with him was large and powerful, regardless of the

size of the television screen.

As media, the television networks did not just help convey the image of the

nation’s unity, behind the scene the television networks themselves also united with one

another to an extent they had never done before. Cooperation among the media, in the

time of crisis, means unity and stability. For example, in 1963, ABC allowed the other

two networks to use its “exclusive” Pope Paul VI statement over the death of President

John F. Kennedy. Elmer W. Lower, former ABC News president, said: “I made my final

decision in the spirit of cooperation that had been pledged by a news executive at another

network. The interview (with the Pope) was sent by the communications satellite and was

used by all networks.” 119 Later on the day of President Kennedy’s funeral, all three major

networks reported this special media event together by following their agreement, which

was made the day after the assassination. NBC and CBS supplied more than half of their

cameras for the coordinated news coverage in 65 to 100 locations. ABC, which possessed

18 cameras in total, also contributed 13 pool cameras to make its efforts. Through cable,

all the recorded video footage was sent to the control unit in the Capitol where CBS could

edit the materials. Eventually, all the networks could request shots they wanted for their

119 Greenberg, B.S.,& Parker, E.B. (1965).

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coverage. William E. Trevarthen, NBC’s Vice President of Operations and Engineering,

said this was something he had never seen in television before. 120 It seemed that almost

overnight all the broadcast networks had learned how to deal with crisis reporting.

However, this cooperation was not always smooth. For instance, on Sunday, November

24, 1963, Elmer W. Lower called a news executive from another network to request a

videotape of the shooting of Oswald. That news executive agreed at first, but later backed

off. Lower described that: “he threatened legal action if ABC used the tape on the basis

of his original agreement to cooperate.” 121

On September 11, 2001, the scale of cooperation among all the television

networks was unprecedented and appeared to be professional. All the networks turned to

the mode of breaking news coverage immediately after the terrorist attacks. They not

only simulcast the same footage on their sister networks, but also shared their own

footage with other competing networks. Although there has been no indication that the

cooperation between major networks was the first measure the television media took to

deal with the national crisis, it was at least an essential factor to guarantee a possible

steady and free flow of relevant public information. If all media outlets cooperate to

cover the same news event, it usually means that more channels are actually provided for

the flow of information related to that event. For example, in 1963, the television

audiences only received the news coverage of the Kennedy assassination from the three

major networks—NBC, CBS and ABC. Today, we have more channels on television than

120 Shepard, R.F.,P11. 121 Lower, E. A Television Network Gathers the News, in Greenberg, B.S. and Parker, E.B. (1965). The Kennedy’s Assassination and The American Public: Social Communication in Crisis. CA: Stanford University Press.

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ever before. On September 11, 2001, we did not see many different news coverage of the

event as we counted the number of television channels we had. All the entertainment

cable networks were carrying the feed from the major broadcast and cable networks,

NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN or FOX. However, this cooperation in and even between

different television networks did provide the event­related information with more chances

of reaching the public at the expense of other irrelevant news or information. Therefore,

in these two events, a more powerful crisis­targeted television medium was actually

formed through cooperation. Mr. Andrew Heyward, CBS News President, talked about

the purpose of media’s cooperation in times of national crisis was to “get people

whatever information we (networks) can.” 122

As the disseminator of public information, the television media showed the world

the tragedies in a visual way. Nacos (2002) held that without the frightening images, the

impacts of the September 11 terrorist attacks on America and the rest of the world would

not have been as immediate and intense as it was. 123 For example, on September 11,

2001, many people around the globe were able to watch the live coverage of the terrorist

attacks on New York and Washington D.C. because of the technology of the fast news

delivery. The tragedy was unfolding even faster than the viewers could absorb it

emotionally. Sympathy and support for the United States were evoked quickly all over

the world. On that day of terror, leaders from many nations showed their support for

America immediately after watching the live news coverage of the event. Czech

President Vaclav Havel said in a statement that he was shocked by the attacks and was

122 Flint, J.& Beatty, S., PA6. 123 Nacos, B.L., P39.

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closely following news coverage from the United States. 124 The sympathy and support

from other nations were vital for the United States to quickly and successfully build an

anti­terrorism coalition in the aftermath of the tragedy. Therefore, in some sense, the

television media, by simply transmitting the public information live on the day of

September 11 of 2001, were also the first, to recruit world leaders to join antiterror

alliance.

Another striking phenomenon about the television media in both the 1963 and

2001 national crises is the remarkable access the reporters had to the suspect or the

nation’s enemies. With the help of portable cameras, video tapes, cable and microwave

technologies, journalists could conduct a face­to­face conversations with the suspected

assassin, Lee H. Oswald, at the police headquarter in 1963; With the help of satellite

videophone technologies, Nic Robertson could relay the Taliban’s news conference live

from Afghanistan, and also with the tape recorder and satellite technologies, people

around the world finally saw the faces of terrorists such as Osama bin Laden in the

aftermath of September 11.

The development of media technologies not only has bestowed the television

media with more capabilities to access all information, but also has made the media itself

more easily accessed by the public. By 1963, the technologies of television media had

made significant progress that allowed journalists to give full play to their abilities.

Through covering the 1963 Kennedy’s assassination, television had strengthened its

124 The Houston Chronicle, September 11, 2001. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe.

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leading role in media industry. According to the Nielsen reports, from November 22 to

November 25, 1963, the average television receiver had tuned to the news for a total of

31.6 hours. During that time, Nielsen estimated, approximately 166 million Americans in

over 51 million homes were tuned in at some time to the Kennedy assassination

programming, and in one­sixth of those homes people had their television on the big

story for more than 11 hours per day. Nielsen also found Monday, the day of the funeral,

was the day of heaviest television viewing. 125 On September 11, 2001, Nielson reported

that at least 60.5 million viewers tuned in to watch one of the four major broadcast

networks during Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) coverage,

according to very preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. The data suggests

about 40 million homes tuned in during an average minute of the coverage on the four

major broadcast networks. Those figures indicate the enormous size of the population the

television media reached during those two national crises. “On a day of death, television

was a lifeline to what was happening.” 126 In 1963, radio beat television in terms of fast

relaying information about the assassination of President Kennedy from the very

beginning because the television media at the time did not have the capability of live

coverage of an emergency, which was due to the limit of media technologies at the time

and the lack of experience of journalists in dealing with a crisis situation. Since the first

televised national crisis, President Kenney’s assassination, the television media have

covered numerous national and other crises. Between November of 1963 and September

of 2001, the television media had gained more experience and made more technical

developments. In a survey conducted by the National Opinion Research, 24% of the

125 Greenberg, B.S. and Parker, E.B., P14. 126 James, C.

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national adults first heard the news about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy

from television; another survey also conducted by the National Opinion Research

revealed that 83% of the national adults watched television or listened to radio after

hearing the news President John F. Kennedy was shot. 127 On September 11, 2001, a poll

conducted by Washington Post and ABC News revealed that 99% of the national adults

watched television or listened to radio after hearing the news of terrorist attacks. 128 With

more of the public turned to broadcast and cable television networks for live coverage of

the national events in 2001 than people did so in 1963. Television medium today begins

to exercise more roles in the management of national crisis.

While facing the horror, television viewers tend to return to the traditional

networks for sharing their grief and seeking possible help from a news anchor. Back in

1963, CBS anchor Walter Cronkite was among the first to report the tragic event and he

also stayed on television for many hours later to update the situation. In 2001, prestigious

anchors, such as Peter Jennings of ABC, Dan Rather of CBS and Tom Brokaw of NBC,

immediately went back to their seats in the news studios taking over the coverage. For a

long period of time before the September 11, the role of television news anchors,

actually, had been usurped to an extent by cable networks and the Internet. 129 The event

of Kennedy’s assassination, for the first time, demonstrated the importance of the

television anchor in a time of national crisis.

127 National Research Center (1963). Roper Center at University of Connecticut, Public Opinion Online. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe. 128 ABC News and Washington Post Poll (2001) Roper Center at University of Connecticut, Public Opinion Online. Retrieved from the database of Lexis­Nexis Academic Universe. 129 Carter,B. & Rutenberg, J. (2001). Viewers Again Return To Traditional Networks. The New York Times. September 15, 2001. PA14.

85

Today, the role of the television anchor has been given more meanings.

“Television anchors may not intentionally try to be anything beyond journalists, but in

the early stages of a national crisis, just giving information and simply being there and

being who they are does foster additional roles. They are far more than journalists during

times of national crisis. As they reassure the public, they play the roles, consciously or

not, of minister, counselor or leader.” 130 After President Kennedy was assassinated and

before the swearing­in of Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson, there was temporarily

no concrete appearance of any well­known official leader on television. At this moment,

news anchor, Walter Cronkite, took such a leadership role by staying on television for

hours. The simple presence of he and other anchors on television conveyed to the public a

message of stability and unity. On September 11, 2001, the news anchor’s importance of

taking leadership in a crisis situation did not fade with the frequent appearance of

President Bush and other government officials on television. Instead, the leadership roles

played by news anchors were greatly highlighted. President George W. Bush frequently

appeared on television moments after the terrorist attacks and then every day in the

aftermath. His eloquent speeches were intended to assure the American people and to

show the world that the American government had the capability to manage this national

crisis and the nation would prevail in the end. To some extent, Bush did realize his goals

of rallying many nations and his own people. On the other hand, the public needed

specific suggestions and plain assurances on how to overcome the crisis. News anchors,

at this point, met this need of the public by being leaders helping people find the right

130 Robertson, L.(2001). Anchoring the Nation. American Journalism Review. November 2001. Vol. 23. P40.

86

direction. For example, Aaron Brown stood and reported on the roof of the CNN’s New

York bureau, which is a high building facing the collapsing World Trade Center in the

morning of September 11, 2001. His expression and performance in front of camera are a

kind of powerful nonverbal language, which assured and encouraged the frightened

audiences. At the CBS studio, shortly after 10:00 a.m. when the second plane just crashed

into the second tower, the camera immediately turned to the anchorman, Dan Rather. He

was facing the viewers with dismal but extremely calm expression. He said:

“This is CBS News continuing live coverage of the apparent terrorist attacks

today here in New York City, and in Washington, D.C. it’s important to say these things

at the very beginning. (The first thing is that) there is much that is not known about what

is happening; the second thing is that the words from almost everybody who is trying to

deal with this situation, the word is ‘steady,’ ‘steady’.” 131

Unlike the Kennedy assassination, the physical and financial loss of the

September 11 terrorist attacks was enormous. In 1963, people deeply suffered from the

psychological and political damages the President’s death brought. The broadcast media

shouldered an unusual role of relieving the public’s pain over the loss of the President.

All networks arranged a concert or music show in every evening during that black

weekend. For example, on the night of November 22, 1963, NBC concluded its

broadcasting day with a symphonic tribute from the NBC Studio Orchestra; on the

following night, CBS presented a memorial concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra; on the

131 CBS News. What We Saw: The Events of September 11, 2001, in Words, Pictures, and Video. [videotape]. NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

87

Sunday night, ABC telecast a show featuring classical music and dramatic readings. In

addition, during the President’s funeral ceremonies, the networks broadcast coverage of

the scenes of chilled mourners filing through the great Rotunda of the Capitol to the late

afternoon shadows across Arlington Cemetery. To help restore the political stability, all

the networks also followed and reported closely every move of Vice President Johnson in

the aftermath. All those relief efforts paid off in helping the public overcome the tragedy

and assisting the nation to resume its business on November 26 th , 1963.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, to help treat the severe trauma the

terrorist attacks caused on many people, all the networks invited health experts to give

advice on how to recover from this psychological suffering. To help the victims and their

families, all television networks helped the rescue and relief units disseminate and

receive information, such as helping Red Cross post information on blood­donation.

Meanwhile, television networks directly and indirectly raised money or donations for

individuals and families who had suffered losses in the terrorist attacks. For example,

television networks produced the telethon named “America: A Tribute to Heroes”. All

the television stations, including the broadcast and cable networks, were also impacted by

the September 11 terrorist attacks. They suffered heavy financial loss by suspending all

commercials for many days and spent millions more on the around­the­clock news

coverage of the events and its aftermath. However, the television media’s role of being

the relief workers did not change. Instead, this role had been greatly consolidated in the

aftermath of this unprecedented national crisis.

88

The September 11 terrorist attacks had pushed the television media to stand

beside the government to a degree as never before seen. The September 11 terrorist

attacks on New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania are unique even in terms of

terrorism. Brigitte L. Nacos, in her book, Mass Mediated Terrorism: the Central Role of

the Media in Terrorism and Counterterrorism (2002), brought up an idea of how

terrorists have utilized media, especially television media, to help fulfill their evil plan. In

other words, terrorists use mass media as part of their battlefield against freedom and

democracy. The most obvious example is the “bin Laden tape.” After September 11,

Osama bin Laden, the suspected backstage person of the terrorist attacks, sent several

video recorded tapes to an Arabian television network named Al Jazeera. Through the

satellite broadcasting of Al Jazeera, the content of bin Laden’s tapes was revealed to the

world. In the tape, bin Laden sought to humiliate America and urge more attacks against

America. “While the (Bush) administration’s argument that these tapes were vehicles for

hidden messages was not credible, it was certainly true that these videos and their

transcripts contained terrorist propaganda.” 132 Since then, a propaganda war began.

Approximately one month after September 11, on October 10, National Security Adviser

Condoleezza Rice asked the major U.S. television networks to edit videotaped statements

by Osama bin Laden and his followers rather than broadcast them live and in their

entirely. However, a real and direct counterattack of the bin Laden’s propaganda still

came from President Bush. From September 11 until the end of the year, George W. Bush

appeared more frequently than any other leader on television. Most of his earlier televised

speeches made in the days right after September 11 were focused on condemning

terrorism, reassuring the American people and praising the American people for their

132 Nacos, B.L., P55.

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bravery and help. “Winning the cooperation and support of Arab and Islamic nations will

prove Mr. Bush’s greatest test.” 133 On September 17, 2001, Bush made an important

televised speech “Islam is Peace” at the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. On

television screen, people around the nation and world saw Bush, standing in front of

Islamic tapestry, surrounded by Muslims. Bush distinguished the true faith of Islam from

the face of terror and condemned and shunned any backlash against Muslim people.

Jonathan Alter (2002) said: “Truth is the best propaganda.” 134 While listing the horror

record of these terrorists in name of Islam and showing respect to Muslims, Bush had

gained the upper hand in the propaganda battle on the television media. In this

propaganda war, American television networks rendered meritorious service by assisting

President Bush to win this war against terrorism.

133 Cummings, J. (2001). Bush Recruits World Leaders for Antiterror Alliance. The Wall Street Journal. September 19, 2001. Vol.238. PA3. 134 Alter, J.,(2002). Truth: The Best Propaganda. Newsweek. March 4 th , 2002. Vol.139.P29.

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Chapter VIII

Conclusion

National crisis, unlike any other kind of crisis, has a devastating capability to

directly or indirectly affect almost any business in the nation that provides service to the

public. Whenever a national crisis occurs, mass media, especially television, often

become one of the first to be impacted. The television media are also among the first to

respond and deal with such special emergencies. Witnessing the development of the

technologies of mass communications and the growing experience of journalists, today

we have to redefine the television media’s role in a time of national crisis.

From the study of the television media of the 1963 Kennedy assassination, the

first televised national crisis, and of the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks, the latest

national crisis, we see the behaviors of the television media and the roles it played in

these two different national crises. The communication technologies in these two events

were one of the key factors in determining the roles television media could play in these

two catastrophes. During the first televised national crisis, the television medium was still

in its early stage of becoming the leader of mass media in American society. The

broadcast technologies in the early 1960s enabled people across the nation to relay and

receive information in a visual way they had never experienced before. Through the cable

and satellite technologies, they began to show their powers in the historic event. Cable

and satellite helped connect the nation and even the world in a united way that no one

could have ever foreseen. In other words, although these communication technologies

91

were in their early period of development, they made a national crisis not simply an event

of national significance. Instead, for the first time, they brought the national crisis onto a

world stage by disseminating the news around the globe. Also, due to the communication

technologies available at the time, the capability of the television media was limited. In

recalling the problem the news media were often facing when covering the Kennedy

tragedy and its aftermath, Elmer Lower, the former ABC News President, said: “Perhaps

the biggest problem…was to communicate rapidly enough to our newsmen in the field,

with no opportunity to plan, and with news breaking so fast, we could not always get in

touch with people who had to make decisions. We couldn’t always get news out to them

in time to get one of our newsmen to certain location.” 135 Therefore, the fact that “not

enough reporting, oversimplified information and reporting things without context” 136

even seriously affected the television media’s basic function of disseminating public

information. Seconds after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, many people heard the first

piece of news from a radio broadcast, instead of from television news. The lack of

context in reporting also caused many people in the nation to blame Dallas for the death

of Kennedy for years. 137 However, the television media were still growing up during the

first national crisis. From news anchor’s announcing the tragedy to the live coverage of

John Kennedy’s funeral, the nation was, for the first time, united by television to an

extent that the public had never experienced before. The concentrated four­day television

135 Mayo, J. P134. 136 Bob Huffaker, KRLD­TV news anchor, in JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Video), 1998, TX: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. 137 See: Wes Wise: “Even ten years later, one person said in public that “mayor of city killed the President” in Mayor’s conference.” In JFK: The Dallas Tapes (Video), 1998, TX: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

92

coverage of the event gave the public a sense of stability and unity, which, therefore,

established television’s leadership role in the public during a time of national crisis.

More than thirty years later, on the day of September 11, 2001, the people around

the globe witnessed a series of terrorist attacks on the United States through their

televisions. The communication technologies today enable audiences all over the world to

get all kinds of information­­ not only what they want, but also what they need. For

example, before September 11, 2001, none of the major television networks addressed

the roots of terrorism and anti­American sentiments. In other words, the American public

knew little about the world beyond the United States. However, following the terrorist

attacks, all the major television networks began to address those issues and focus on

foreign news. American public then started to have a chance to get some kind of context

information. 138

Unlike the communication technologies in 1963, today, cable and satellite

technologies occupy a dominant position. On day of September 11, cable television still

kept informing New Yorkers after the broadcasting towers were knocked out in the

attacks. Across the nation, 50% of the public watched the round­the­clock news coverage

through cable television. More people around the world watched the live coverage of the

horror through satellite relay. However, the following three patterns, which appeared in

1963’s television media, were not only adopted but also strengthened by today’s

television media:

138 Nacos, B.L., P45­46.

93

First, also the most important, keep the free flow of information by all means. To

realize this, the television medium may cancel all commercials and all previously

scheduled programming, adopt concentrated nonstop news coverage mode and share

information with other news networks as well as within the network.

Second, gather all kinds of information to have a comprehensive view of the

event. It also emphasizes the importance of information from the side of the nation’s

enemy to sketch out the context for the events.

Third, participate in the crisis management. It includes relief and rescue efforts

and other post­disaster efforts, such the propaganda and counter­propaganda war.

The events of September 11 have pushed the television media onto an

unprecedented new stage in regard to their roles of coping with the national crisis. First of

all, because today’s television medium has the ability of disseminating information

instantly, nonstop, and in visuals and words from any place to all parts of the globe, 139 it

displayed greater initiative in the crisis relief and recovery efforts. For example, the fund

raising “Telethon” event and counseling services on television. Secondly, also because of

the television media’s above ability, the television media themselves could provide

convenient conditions for terrorists to spread their propaganda. The notorious bin Laden

tape is an example. A propaganda war against bin Laden’s further evil plans utilizing

mass media was carried on the television following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

American television broadcast and cable networks relayed the horror live and the

139 Nacos, B.L., P39.

94

American government’s policies to almost every nation so people around the world

clearly understood this America’s national crisis was also world crisis. In other words,

without the television media, America could not rally the international communities so

quickly and so successfully and win such wide support for its war on terrorism.

No one can foresee when and how the next national crisis would happen, or it

would happen in which kind of form. Television media would still have to deal with the

national crisis or any other kinds of crises in an instantaneous way. However, no matter

what would happen next, precaution and preparation are still the right things to do. The

lessons learned from the past experiences are the best preparations the mass media could

do for the unpredictable future. This is also the purpose of this study.

95

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