Disaster and Crisis Coverage - International News Safety Institute

Case Study: Editor reaches out
After the terrorist attacks of September 2001 on New York City’s World Trade
Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., some newsroom managers
made extra efforts to stay connected to their journalists working around-theclock
to document the horror.
On September 13, 2001, William E. Schmidt, a New York Times editor, wrote a
memo to his staff: “In the last few days, too many of you have seen things, done
things, photographed things, that have sucked the emotional wind out of you.
And this story is not going away any time soon.
“We all know there is a great tradition among journalists to put your feelings and
fears behind you, and just get the job done. We applaud you for that kind of
professionalism. But we also know just doing your job – as a reporter or
photographer out in the streets, or as an editor or clerk in the newsroom – takes
its toll on you and your family.”
Schmidt listed resources the newspaper was providing and reminded staff that it
is the journalist’s job to bear witness, but the scenes of horror and human misery
so many were witnessing could leave scars.
International Center for Journalists
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