Posts Tagged ‘news’

Sept. 11, 2001 was one of those “where were you when?” moments. I was a high school junior in physics class. The teacher kept Drudge Report on at all times and he first saw the news break there. We turned on the TV to see the second tower get hit.

The class went numb. We were speechless, then very, very talkative.

For the rest of the day and week, I sought every bit of news I could get my hands on and shared it with friends, classmates, anyone who was talking about it — which was everyone.

According to my angsty teenage journal, I didn’t know how to feel, how watching it all unfold on TV made it real and unreal at the same time. Journalists introduced us to new words — al-Qaeda, jihad, Taliban — words that would hum in the background of years of sacrifice and death, many from my generation, in Afghanistan and Iraq and the larger War on Terror.

Sunday night, the humming stopped.

I was watching The Killing (excellent show, highly recommended), which meant my computer was sleeping, screen shut and my full attention was on AMC. During a commercial break, I decided to completely unplug for the night and turn off my computer. However, when I opened it and Twitter refreshed, I saw Tweets announcing President Obama’s speech and noting the peculiarity of the timing. My spidey reporter sense tingled and I decided to keep it open while I finished watching TV.

Of course, I ended up watching Twitter, cable news and the conversation evolve from speculation to confirmed fact that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces. Breaking news. Technically, I was on the clock Sunday, so I kept an eye on the coverage and curated some Wyoming-related Tweets for the web site before going to bed.

I wasn’t working, but I was working.

I drew a few similarities to Sept. 11:

• I found out via the Internet
• I soaked up information and spread the word (my Tweetdeck dashboad was an absolute wreck)
• It felt real and unreal at the same time

Reaction flooded my Facebook friend feed, a healthy mix of right, left and neither, in four categories:

• Go Obama!
• We wouldn’t have got him without Bush.
• Bless our soldiers.
• America, Fuck Yeah!

How are we supposed to react?

A younger generation — likely were in the third grade on Sept. 11 — took to the streets in “celebration.” The photos and video from college town Columbia, Mo., made the scene out to be a giant frat party. My initial reaction: College students will find any excuse to drink beer in the street.

But then again, they’ve been more entrenched in the War on Terror than most of us; half their lives have been spent fearing the Taliban and watching war footage on TV.

We got the bad guy in a decade-long narrative of death, fear and injustice. Real life got a blockbuster movie ending.

But it’s not over.

Before the Osama news broke, some journalists received an email that said, “Get to work” — short, but far from simple.

Journalists of my generation will tell these stories again, many times. How we tell them, within the context of our Sept. 11 experience, will make all the difference.

Time to get to work.

What do you see in the news? Without pausing, the kids in the room shouted their answers: crime, murder, violence, crimes. New Orleans had the highest crime rate in the country in 2008. Just this last week there were 11 shootings, 6 of them on Mardi Gras day in broad daylight in a “safe” area of town. Of course kids know about crime. It surrounds them.

The question was meant for the kids to think about how the news applies to them. They’ll be writing about crime and other issues from kids’ perspective as part of a journalism program for kids 8 to 18. They will work in teams to interview other kids, community members and public officials. Older, teen editors will feel out the story and then write it with an adult volunteer. The program is designed to be kid-driven with little adult interaction, but for this New Orleans site, the volunteers will take on a stronger reporting/writing coach role.

I will be one of those volunteers. Volunteering has been in the back of my mind since before I got here. Recovery and rebuilding efforts are a huge part of the city. I thought about spending some time with Habitat for Humanity, but seriously, do I have the muscles to lift heavy objects? Luckily for my wimpy biceps, Children’s PressLine is starting a bureau in New Orleans this semester. The time commitment is minimal – 2.5 hours one day a week – but after the workshop yesterday I’m excited to spend more time with these kids.

At one point, they brainstormed story ideas, starting with whatever they thought was news. One 12 year old said the economy. How does that affect kids? How does that affect you? He didn’t have an answer. Another said they should write about how Obama’s stimulus plan was taking money from people and he should be convicted of robbery. The workshop leaders just kind of breezed past that idea.

There were other ideas: the lunch food makes my stomach feel funny, teachers give too much homework, recycling is important so we don’t cut our feet on broken beer bottles in the street. Also: reaction to recent kidnapping of a 16 year old, kids who sneak weapons into schools (the workshop was held at an elementary school with metal detectors) and teen pregnancy prevention. I taught tennis on courts littered with empty 40s and the occasional bullet. I convinced hopeful magazine editors they liked writing news stories. I think I can do this.