Twelve Years Forward

  For me September 11 was a normal school day for me. I remember sitting in my fourth grade class taught by Mr. Rokita. He was teaching a lesson using the overhead when someone interrupted class to tell me that my father was here for early pick up. I was surprised we didn't discuss me leaving school early today. As I gathered my things it was announced over the classroom intercom that another one of my classmates was getting picked up from school as well. I greeted my dad happily but confused and asked what happened. He had a weary look on his face and as we walked out of Glenridge Elementary school and hopped into the car he told me of the plane crashes in the World Trade Center. We rushed to downtown DC and picked my mother up from work. Outside the Ronald Reagan building were reporters and their crew conducting man on the street interviews. Upon my return home I laid in my parents bed watching a local news channel as they played and replayed the plane crashes over and over again. At nine years old I couldn't possibly fathom why someone would do such a thing and that this could not be justified. My thoughts, feelings, and emotions were warped around this event until I peacefully fell asleep. From that day on tension brew between Americans and the Muslim community who fit the stereotypical description of being a terrorist. And many of us adhered to that.

   Looking back at this tragic event I am no longer confused as to why this attack took place. Its in our nature to behave this way. When ideas, beliefs, and values from two separate entities differ the end result is violence especially if ones ideas are beginning to influence the other. One can argue that the attacks of September 11 could easily be compared to the marches and protests during the Civil Rights Movement as an act of expression. Although it was the wrong way to go about things, none the less it got its point across effectively.
   In the video collage the media didn't hastily jump to conclusions in the initial coverage of the 9/11 attacks instead they used phrases such as "unconfirmed reports", "we cannot confirm", "we don't know anything about", "limited information", "apparently", and etc to convey to the audience that their will be more details to come. The media basically let spectators come on the air and tell there story. Once more information was gathered the media began to tell the stories in what some might consider in a sensationalized manner. Reporters emphasized key words or phrases such as "tragedy", "sad", "terrible", "devastating" and etc to evoke emotion into their audience. In other coverage I seen reporters out in the field interviewing witnesses and comforting tears as well.

SOURCE Youtube