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Sept. 11 and beyond

© Daryl Lease

Opinion polls indicate that the public's faith in the media surged in the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Americans, angered and unnerved by the events of that morning, were eager to find quick, reliable information about what happened and what their government and the world intended to do about it. The media, by and large, rose to the occasion.

The coverage is far from over, of course, but the post-mortems -- the analysis of what was done well and what wasn't --are already under way. Media-related Web sites are busy deconstructing the coverage and highlighting some of the exemplary work done in recent weeks.

Below are a few sites worth checking out. Please feel free to suggest other sites or offer any other observations in the discussion area. Or send me a separate e-mail and I'll include them in a round-up at a later date.

http://www.poynter.org

The Poynter Institute continues to be one of the best places on the Internet to find media criticism and media-related news. The offerings include Jim Romenesko's popular MediaNews, along with thoughtful analysis and trend pieces by members of the Poynter staff.

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Poynter site began posting stories and links related to the media's coverage. The quickest access point is www.poynter.org. You can also find a link in the "Covering the Attack" section at Romenesko's MediaNews ( http://www.medianews.org ).

At this writing, the Poynter site has posted more than 170 attack-related articles, plus a gallery of more than 400 front pages. The pieces include first-person accounts of Sept. 11; advice on covering the Arab-American community; a look at Al Jazeera TV; a piece on post-traumatic stress; story ideas for high school papers; and much more.

http://www.americanpressinstitute.org

Here you'll find another great package of articles and links. The offerings include pieces by reporters, editors, and photographers from dailies and weeklies around the country who struggled to find their bearings and lead their newsrooms through crisis coverage.

Other sections include articles of interest to the circulation and advertising teams at newspapers; discussions about the appropriate mix of patriotism and independent news coverage; and links to editorials and editorial cartoons.

http://ajr.newslink.org/ajrfishoct01.html

At the American Journalism Review, Marc Fisher assesses the coverage and concludes that "the media covered the horrific events of September 11 impressively and valiantly."

http://www.interactivepublishing.net/sep...

At API, I encountered this link to "screen shots" from more than 150 news sites on Sept 11 and 12. It's a valuable historical record and offers an interesting glimpse of the Internet's emerging role as a competitor with and supplement to television coverage.

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