However, some are cynical of the power of media coverage. The morality of journalists has particularly been questioned, especially in wartime. The current issue of morality relates to exposure of military strategy. National Public Radio (NPR) reporters in Afghanistan and the Middle East are instructed to report the presence of any US military forces. "The game of reporting is to smoke 'em out," NPR Senior Foreign Editor Loren Jenkins said. This debate over journalistic ethics has existed for years. Yet, Brent Baker of Media Research Center, responsible for monitoring press coverage of the war, felt that current war coverage has surpassed his expectations by respecting rules and not endangering the military.

Throughout the days following the "Attack on America," regular television programs were interrupted with hourly coverage of breaking news and magazine layouts were restructured to include detailed written documentation of the attacks. Thousands of Americans, including myself, rushed to buy special editions of Time and People Weekly to hold as remnants of this historical yet tragic event. Still, each medium handled their coverage in a professional demeanor.

Often, those we regard as outspoken on TV fought for their words that Tuesday. As reporters worried about their own families, they rushed to "ground zero" to relay breaking news. However, many of these reporters, regardless of their location, succumbed to their human reaction at many points in their coverage. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen was one of the reporters to share this human face with the public yet maintain her integrity as the link between the public and the news. For four days, Cohen interviewed desperate family members and friends allowing them to share their words about missing loved ones. Some held up pictures while others told their tales. As I watched her interrupt repetitive news anchor gibberish, I often saw tears streaming down her face. It was the first time that I had ever seen a reporter shed emotion and regard the victims as higher than the news. Three weeks later, Cohen appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show where Winfrey referred to her as "the link to hope." Cohen responded, "I was the conduit. These people had the message, and I was just the way that they told the world." Earlier in the interview, she spoke of what she felt was her responsibility as a journalist. She told Winfrey:

"We found these families who were just clutching photos. And I started thinking: 'These are the people.'… Unlike other tragedies where you have bloody bodies running out, there were no live people left after this tragedy to talk to. I think sometimes when people have died, other people don't know what to say. And you can't write that letter. I had to say something to those people- any kind of human contact is so important for someone who is grieving like that (News Reporters' Personal Stories)."

Rather than worrying about beating out the other networks, Cohen was instead concerned with providing comfort to the grieving families.

While Cohen reported from "ground zero," news anchor Paula Zahn held down the fort on the set. Starting her new job early, Zahn became another soothing voice for concerned and frightened viewers. Also in an interview with Winfrey, Zahn said, "My challenge was even greater as a journalist, because this was happening in my own backyard." She continued, "It is extremely painful to take part in this coverage. You can see when we interview people, their pain exposed so vividly on the air. I'm a mother, I'm a journalist, I'm an American; I'm all of those things, and it really complicates your job when you have all these things come into play." This illustrates the struggles of TV journalists to comprehend the events when confronted with conflicting information and forced to make sense of it on the spot. For some reports, the events were happening too close to home. This impacted their reporting as well as their demeanor resulting in the display of their human side, something we as viewers do not usually witness.

While the TV news focused on the current aspects of the war on terrorism, editors and writers at magazines were hard at work creating tributes to those whose lives were lost. They were busy compiling photographs, testimonies, visual transformations, and facts to tactfully record this historical moment and the repercussions that will last a lifetime. Popular magazines such as People Weekly and Time devoted an entire issue to the events. The September 24th issue of the former included nearly 100 pages of personal accounts revealed from a variety of sources ranging from firefighters, to oil brokers at the World Financial Center across the street from the WTC, to Pope John Paul II. Likewise, gripping photographs, an hourly account of the attacks, and an illustration of the paths of destruction in conjunction with a single multi-page article written by Nancy Gibbs comprised the September 11th issue of Time. Yet no advertisements appeared anywhere in this magazine. We have learned that advertising is how a magazine succeeds. Time was truly making a statement when it omitted advertisements. Yet Gibbs wrote the most quintessential statement, "On a normal day, we value heroism because it is uncommon. On Sept.11, we valued heroism because it was everywhere." This issue was a tribute to the heroism of all those involved, a rarity in the industry.

This representation of the events in the various media illustrate the agenda setting theory which states that journalists have the ability to tell its audience what to think about but don't tell them what to think. According to our text, there are two types of agenda setting. The first type involves the flow of information from one news organization to another. In recent coverage, media organizations collaborated to gather information for concerned Americans. This information was in turn relayed to audiences who were able to draw their own conclusions. This is the second type of agenda setting which states that information flows from a news organization to the audience.

Although reporters were criticized for leaking inaccurate information, it is my belief that their carelessness was the result of desperately finding answers for Americans rather than being the first to report on breaking news for the purposes of increased ratings. Reporters, for once, seemed human. And that made me proud. As I wrote in my account "The Day America Was Under Attack," "Neither reporters nor Mayor Rudy Giuliani of NYC himself were certain of how many deaths to expect. One thing was certain, however. The city would not sleep tonight." More importantly, neither would the reporters.

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