Crisis Coverage

The newest student reporters at Boston University's Washington Journalism Center arrived in the nation's capital on Labor Day weekend and just over one week later were plunged into what may be the biggest story they'll ever cover.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the fledgling Washington bureau reporters contributed exclusive regional-angle stories to New England news outlets relating to the devastating terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

Meanwhile, at networks, newspapers, magazines and web operations across the country, alumni of the BU Journalism Department produced, edited and reported the breaking news story and continue to advance it. And in COM itself, many of those teaching the current generation of students have been called upon to provide expert commentary on this historic, multi-faceted story.

"We knew we had a unique perspective on the world's largest terrorist attack, and we didn't waste the opportunity," said Cathleen Genova, a graduate student reporting from BU's Washington Journalism Center. (See the following story for details).

Don Van Natta Jr., a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and a 1986 journalism graduate, shared a Sept. 12 New York Times byline with his wife and colleague, Lizette Alvarez, under this headline:

"A Hijacked Boeing 757 Slams Into the Pentagon, Halting the Government."

Gary Tuchman, a national correspondent for CNN who earned a master's degree in broadcast journalism from BU, is reporting live from outside the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center. Claudia David, an associate producer for NBC's Today show, was sent out as a reporter, to the scene of the disaster and Manhattan hospitals. Linda Polach, another BJ graduate program alum, is executive producer of WCVB-TV Boston's continuous special coverage. Kathy Curran is reporting live for WBZ-TV Channel 4, where Joe Abouzeid directs all local coverage for the CBS affiliate.

Tom Fiedler, a news editorial graduate of Boston University, is directing the Miam Herald coverage. He was named executive editor of the Herald last summer. Fiedler had been the newspapers's editorial page editor. Read a Miami Herald columnist on the effect of the attack on Americans' spirit here.

In every Boston newsroom, alumni worked as producers, editors, news directors, photographers and reporters in getting the story out, while students worked as interns getting the experience of a lifetime.

Bob Zelnick, acting chairman of the Journalism Department, was much in demand as a former Pentagon correspondent for ABC.

Throughout, Zelnick emphasized these points:

*"First, this was a massive intelligence failure and a massive security failure. While our technical intelligence is good, we suffer from a stunning inability to conduct reliable human intelligence. This was a highly planned, well financed, intricately coordinated, brilliantly timed terrorist operation, and we picked up nothing about it. Also, our airport security is woefully deficient.

*"Second, this operation would not have been possible without the sanctuary provided by host states. We may not know the perpetrators, but we do know the countries that provide aid, comfort and safety. This tragedy must change the landscape regarding holding these host states responsible for the actions of their clients.

*"Third, the objectives of the terrorists are political. They can bring Wall Street to a halt, send our government home for the day, hit the Pentagon and kill thousands of people, but in the end they only succeed if they get us to abandon our values or change our policies. Terrorism is the weapon of the weak against the strong. Its actions are rich in symbolism, even where the damage is extensive.

*Fourth, While our response must be measured, it must also be resolute. We cannot go back to business as usual. We cannot keep lists of states that aide and abet terrorism and do nothing about it. We cannot slide back to lackadaisical airport security.

Time magazine columnist and Professor Lance Morrow, who teaches two courses in the Journalism Department. contributed an essay to a special edition of Time for distribution Sept. 13 and after.

Susan Walsh, a 1987 Photojournalism graduate who shared a Pulitzer Prize for photography in 1999 with her colleagues in the Washington bureau of the Associated Press, is one of many BU alumni providing vivid visual coverage of this story. Jim Mahoney, an adjunct professor of journalism, was dispatched to New York by the Boston Herald where he is a staff photographer.

Professor Caryl Rivers, who is on the board of directors of Women's ENews, wrote a commentary on the attacks available at the website of this nonprofit supplementary news service funded by the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund. You can read her story by clicking here.

Professor Nancy Day, a correspondent for People magazine, helped cover the many New England aspects of the story, as she put it, "feature writing on deadline," since People magazine, like the special edition of Time, closed Tuesday night, meaning all the copy and photos were in and the entire issue edited only hours after the first plane hit the first tower.
For many other students, faculty, staff and alumni, the connections were far more personal. Regina Montague, a 2001 journalism graduate and reporter for The New York Times, said another recent graduate, Lisa Frost, en route to a new job in San Francisco, was on one of the hijacked planes.

"I imagine some of you knew Lisa," Montague wrote in an e-mail to BU friends, classmates and professors. "I first met her when she and I worked on a project for the admissions office last semester. I remember her as beautiful, smart girl, who had everything going for her... maybe as fellow BU students, there's something we can do for her family and the school. Let's be in touch."