Journalism faculty share their experiences on 5th anniversary of 9/11
Released on 09/07/2006, at 11:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
WHEN: Monday, Sep. 11, 2006
WHERE: J.C. Seacrest Lecture Hall, Harold and Marian Andersen Hall, Q Street & Centennial Mall
Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln journalism professors personally involved in reporting efforts that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center will share their experiences in a joint talk on the fifth anniversary of the attacks.
Tim Anderson and Barney McCoy will speak at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 in the J.C. Seacrest Lecture Hall of Harold and Marian Andersen Hall, Q Street and Centennial Mall. Anderson is a lecturer in news-editorial and McCoy is associate professor of broadcasting. The event is free and open to the public.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Anderson's wife was taking him to the Long Island railroad station in Westbury, Long Island, to board a train to Manhattan, where he worked as a news design editor of The New York Times.
"The news we heard on the radio -- that planes had hit the World Trade Center and that New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had closed all bridges and tunnels to the city," Anderson said, "meant that we turned around and returned to our home."
Later that day, Anderson caught an empty train that was running into Manhattan. By this time, Anderson said, "most of the staff had found a way to get to work, and we set to work to publish the paper that would carry the headline, 'U.S. Attacked.'"
More than 500 miles away, McCoy, an anchor-reporter at a Columbus, Ohio, television station, was leaving for another story assignment when he and his videographer heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.
"We drove 14 hours and spent the next six days in New Jersey and New York reporting on the rescue efforts that eventually gave way to a recovery operation, "McCoy said. "We crossed the Hudson River with search and rescue teams being ferried to Ground Zero. There was anger, sadness and compassion. Mostly, I saw compassion."
CONTACTS: Tim Anderson, Lecturer, News-Editorial, (402) 472-3034;
Barney McCoy, Assoc. Professor, Broadcasting, (402) 472-3047;
Marilyn Hahn, Communication Specialist, Journalism and Mass Communication, (402) 472-0876