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Coverage of Terrorism
A firefighter throws up his hands in despair at Ground Zero in New York.
The first thing I noticed about Ground Zero was the reverence people had for
each other. This is sacred ground, where innocent people lost their lives, and
you can feel that. The massive movie klieg lights and lack of unnecesary
chitchat give this place a surreal feeling. It is devoid of laughter and one of the
few places in the world where you can feel the energy and the horror and a
sense of history washing over you at once. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem is
like this, as is Gettysburg and Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Nieman Reports / Winter 2001 45