The coming 9/11 media circus. A parade of talking heads will tell us how we feel about 9/11.
Harry Hope
From The Boston Globe, 8/27/02:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/239/living/Networks_should_remember_Sept_11_with_humility_not_hype-.shtml
By Renee Graham, Globe Staff
We're two weeks away from Sept. 11, and that incessant scrambling you
may hear is various networks jockeying to out-memorialize one another.
They're speed-dialing widows and survivors, wooing police officers and
firefighters, booking air traffic controllers and politicians: anyone
willing to come on the air and - between fussy graphics, photo
montages, and appropriately somber music - relive their harrowing
memories of the devastating terrorist attacks that cost nearly 3,000
their lives in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
The four major networks are offering marathon programming, some
beginning a day or two before the actual anniversary, and each with
its own catchy name.
ABC's ''9/11'' will begin its coverage on Sept. 10 with a documentary;
CBS's programming, ''9/11: The Day That Changed America,'' features an
exclusive interview with President George W. Bush and a rebroadcast of
its documentary ''9/11'';
NBC's ''America Remembers'' includes a town- meeting-style forum with
rescue workers, survivors, and family members, as well as a ''Concert
for America'' with, among others, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Gloria
Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, and Laura Bush.
The Sept. 9 concert will air two days later.
Fox plans a two-hour prime-time special, ''9/11: The Day America
Changed,'' while PBS's ''We Remember'' will include such kid-oriented
shows as ''Arthur'' and ''Reading Rainbow'' offering a perspective on
the events for its younger viewers.
And, on the anniversary, each network morning show will broadcast an
expanded edition.
All told, there will be nearly 90 hours of TV dedicated to anniversary
specials, and some network executives are already defending their
extensive programming.
CBS president Leslie Moonves recently told The Wall Street Journal
that ''it is far better to err on the side of giving too much coverage
than not paying enough respect to what happened.''
Yet this blanket programming may turn what should be a solemn day of
personal reflection and remembrance into just another pumped-up,
made-for-TV extravaganza.
It's rather like all those FDNY hats people began wearing after the
attacks.
What began as a tribute to the more than 300 firefighters who died
that day was soon reduced to just another tired fashion trend.
Besides, are we ready to watch, again and again, those passenger
planes piercing the towers and thousands of people literally running
for their lives?
Can we again abide the heartbreaking images of husbands looking for
wives, parents searching for children, families and friends torn
asunder?
Even for those among us who lost nothing more precious that day than
our own arrogant sense of security, the wound remains tender and raw.
I want to believe the networks will show restraint, but then I
remember these are the same minds behind ''Fear Factor'' and
''Temptation Island.''
It's a far cry from last Sept. 11, when television, in perhaps its
most poignant and eloquent hours, became an electric church where we
watched and listened, gathered and prayed.
Its coverage was meaningful, thoughtful, and devoid of one-upmanship.
On that day and for the rest of the week, ratings and competition were
shelved in favor of getting as much information as possible to
viewers.
Now there's the disheartening news that at least one unnamed network
has offered to ''hire'' in-demand guests as paid consultants as way of
securing their exclusivity.
The Big Four networks should have taken their cues from some small
cable networks that are using a more low-key approach to mark the day.
A&E, History Channel, Biography Channel, and History International
will suspend programming at 8:46 a.m., the time the first World Trade
Center tower was hit.
Until about 10:29 a.m. - when the second tower collapsed - the
stations will scroll the names of victims.
HGTV, Food Network, Fine Living, and DIY Network will also halt
programming for two hours, beginning at 8:30 a.m, and will offer,
according to a spokesman, ''a series of images, words, and music to
inspire quiet reflection.''
Recently, NBC's Tom Brokaw said anniversary coverage may correct what
he perceives as a ''drifting away emotionally and intellectually''
from the attacks.
Still, even with the notoriously short attention span of most
Americans, I doubt anyone needs a reminder of what occurred on Sept.
11.
On that gloriously sunny Tuesday morning, we needed television to tell
us what was happening.
A year later, we don't need a parade of talking heads to tell us how
to feel, nor a deluge of television programs to help us remember a day
few of us will ever forget.
__________________________________________________
The main purpose of all this hype is to promote Bush's hidden agenda.
Harry
Eric da Red
Harry Hope <riv...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
>From The Boston Globe, 8/27/02:
>http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/239/living/Networks_should_remember_Sept_11_with_humility_not_hype-.shtml
>
>By Renee Graham, Globe Staff
>
>We're two weeks away from Sept. 11, and that incessant scrambling you
>may hear is various networks jockeying to out-memorialize one another.
>
>beginning a day or two before the actual anniversary, and each with
>its own catchy name.
>
>ABC's ''9/11'' will begin its coverage on Sept. 10 with a documentary;
>
>CBS's programming, ''9/11: The Day That Changed America,'' features an
>exclusive interview with President George W. Bush and a rebroadcast of
>its documentary ''9/11'';
>
>NBC's ''America Remembers'' includes a town- meeting-style forum with
>rescue workers, survivors, and family members, as well as a ''Concert
>for America'' with, among others, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Gloria
>Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, and Laura Bush.
>
>The Sept. 9 concert will air two days later.
>
>Fox plans a two-hour prime-time special, ''9/11: The Day America
>Changed,'' while PBS's ''We Remember'' will include such kid-oriented
>shows as ''Arthur'' and ''Reading Rainbow'' offering a perspective on
>the events for its younger viewers.
Sounds like a good evening to read a good book or watch the Golf
Channel.
--
Quote Of The Week: "Bush, himself the most intellectually backward
American president of my political lifetime, is surrounded by advisers
whose bellicosity is exceeded only by their political, military and
diplomatic illiteracy." -- Gerald Kaufman, former British labor minister
Connie
to those anyway.. for a change, I find myself in some agreement with you...
It does sound as though the planned 911 "rerun" will be a bit overdone... on
the Networks' part, presumably much of the motivation has to do with
ratings. I, for one, don't expect to spend September 11th glued to the boob
tube. And, hey, Harry, you, yourself, might want to check in advance the
location of the "Off" button on your TV. C...
Harry Hope wrote in message <3d6b879f....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>...
Martin M. Shroyer
The main purpose of the article is to bemoan the print media's having
to play a second-fiddle role.
- Marty Shroyer
drdoody
> http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/239/living/Networks_should_remember_Sept_11_with_humility_not_hype-.shtml
>
> By Renee Graham, Globe Staff
<snip>
> Yet this blanket programming may turn what should be a solemn day of
> personal reflection and remembrance into just another pumped-up,
> made-for-TV extravaganza.
>
> It's rather like all those FDNY hats people began wearing after the
> attacks.
Tell me about it.
Somehow, I thought that hundreds of firefighters, police officers and
MEDICS (never heard about and my personal pet peeve) dying in the line
of duty was a tad more dignified than Tommy fucking Hilfiger.
> The Big Four networks should have taken their cues from some small
> cable networks that are using a more low-key approach to mark the day.
>
>
> A&E, History Channel, Biography Channel, and History International
> will suspend programming at 8:46 a.m., the time the first World Trade
> Center tower was hit.
>
> Until about 10:29 a.m. - when the second tower collapsed - the
> stations will scroll the names of victims.
That's why I love History channel and all its other A&E brethren. They
posess one key trait seemingly lacking in all other American
television: Taste.
Although I truly fear what my other favorite television network, The
Speed Channel will air on 9/11/02.
God, please don't let it be airplane racing.
> A year later, we don't need a parade of talking heads to tell us how
> to feel, nor a deluge of television programs to help us remember a day
> few of us will ever forget.
>
> __________________________________________________
>
> The main purpose of all this hype is to promote Bush's hidden agenda.
>
> Harry
Nah, the main purpose of all this hype is to promote the networks'
ratings. For Bush to slave all the TV networks to his will would
require a level of Machiavellian skill the man sadly does not posess.
Cheney, perhaps, but not Bush.
Of course, the Democrats don't tend to be any smarter per capita,
either.
Tell me, what would the label be for a person too conservative to be a
liberal, too liberal to be a conservative and just not fucking crazy
enough to vote Independant?
Doc
Julian D.
wrote:
No, one would hope all this 'hype' was to remind the people that Islam
attacked us. And we'd better do something about it.
JD
"We need honest, reasoned debate, and not fear-mongering. To those . . .
who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is
this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity
and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and
pause to America's friends. They encourage people of goodwill to remain
silent in the face of evil."
-- John Ashcroft -
Testifying before congress defending military tribunals and upholding the
Constitution of the United States of America
"Critics of the war on terrorism don’t seem to understand: someone is trying to kill them."
-Jonathan Alter
NEWSWEEK
Palestinian Children's School Is In Session!!!
http://www.serve.com/lordgovernor/children/
On Islamic extremists: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."
-- Ann Coulter, National Review Online, September 2001
"100% of the successful terrorist attacks on
commercial airlines for 20 years have been committed
by Arabs. When there is a 100% chance, it ceases to
be a profile. It's called a 'description of the
suspect.'" - Ann Coulter
'All I really need to know about Islam, I learned on September 11.'
-Me
steve
We need to find our own ways to discuss/memorialize/respond to this day in history.
i built my own - www.CameraPlanet.com/7days
and made a film.
no tv.
no dvd.
just a film in a theatre...
and a web site.
post your thoughts there...
riv...@ix.netcom.com (Harry Hope) wrote in message news:<3d6b879f....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>...