Reporters covering the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks told the world the who, what, where, when, how, while searching for the why — those basics haven’t changed.
But thinking back on how the WTOP news team and I covered the attack on the Pentagon, the ways we got the news, and got it to our audience, have changed a lot.
I headed to Reagan National Airport Sept. 11, 2001, shortly after the second plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York City. I had no idea that minutes later I would be reporting on the crash of a third plane into the Pentagon.
After my first report from the Pentagon, I heard on the police scanner that another plane was believed to be headed toward the area. I tried to get a phone call through to the newsroom, but I couldn’t.
That day was six years before the first iPhone was released, five years before Twitter and three years before Facebook. Today, these are considered required tools for a reporter’s job. But back then, many reporters still relied on landlines or pay phones.
If you recall, it was nearly impossible to make a cellphone call in the middle of the story, so I relied on a tiny alternative communication device clipped to my belt: a Motorola pager.
“These were text only,” WTOP Technology Manager Brian Oliger recently remembered, “so there were no photos, no videos, certainly.”
With my thumbs, I typed: “Unconfirmed report. Arlington police say FAA warning another hijacked plane fifteen miles from Pentagon and heading toward.” I hit Enter, and hoped...
Read Full Story: https://wtop.com/local/2021/09/before-smartphones-and-social-media-how-wtop-covered-sept-11-2001/
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