Mainstream Media's Biggest 9/11 Fails
Never forget these egregious uses of a terrible tragedy.
Image via Complex Original
National tragedies live on in our cultural consciousness for all time. Though we make a point as a people to have moments of reflection, the reality is that we truly will never forget the dark events that punctuate our history. There are positives that come out of our remembrances. Lessons are learned, art is created, and heroes are honored in the aftermath of terrible tragedies.
Sadly, there are also negatives that come on the heels of even the gravest events. There will invariably be those seeking to profit from tragedy; there is always a glut of people waiting in the wings, hoping to use awful circumstances to their advantage. There will also be those who crack tasteless jokes, vent their blind rage, and concoct insane theories as a way to deal with the pain that comes with all terrible events.
Any tragedy brings with it strings of small, painful moments that spread and fade like the ripples of water after a rock hits a still pond. Though they come from different places and express starkly varied emotions, the items on this list have one thing in common: they are fails of the highest order. Here are the Mainstream Media's Biggest 9/11 Fails.
RELATED: The Biggest Social Media Fails of 2013 (So Far)
The View Has Truther Alex Jones On As A Guest
Famed 9/11 truther Alex Jones and famed self-destructive nut job Charlie Sheen are thick as thieves. We're sure that these guys have some lively conversations during hate-filled narcotics binges, but that doesn't mean it was a good idea to have Jones on The View.
Things start off okay, all things considered, but about a minute into his interview, Jones defends his friend by pointing out that Sheen "didn't kill a million people in Iraq, he wasn't involved with the takedown of building Seven in New York, and he thinks there are bigger devils here than himself."
Unfortunately, Jones' outburst wasn't the first truther incident on The View. Former co-host Rosie O'Donnell also implied that she believed 9/11 was an inside job in 2007.
"America A O" by Aaron Carter
Before Aaron Carter was known far and wide across Twitter for his "horny level," he was churning out the hits at a breakneck pace. Though "I Want Candy" and "That's How I Beat Shaq" were musical feats, none of them matched the earnest, thoughtful tone that he struck with "America A O." Carter makes a profound statement in the song, as he points out that though "troubled times bring about troubled vibes," he'll be "livin' in America, no matter what they say, he'll be livin' here either way."
Give the song a listen if you haven't yet. Your children will be reciting the lyrics in American history class, so you'd better get used to it.
The Media Fails to Cover First Responders Bill, Except For Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart was incensed after the Zadroga Bill, legislation aimed at assuring 9/11 First Responders received proper health treatment, was held up in the Senate by Republican filibuster. During the two-and-a-half months that the bill languished in Congress, none of the three major networks dedicated any nightly news coverage to the bill, and only Al-Jazeera and Comedy Central gave substantial airtime to the bill’s progress. As Stewart put it, “Our networks were scooped with a sympathetic Zadroga Bill story by the same network that Osama bin Laden sends his mixtapes to.”
A version of the bill was finally signed into law right after the New Year in 2011, after an earlier version failed to pass the Senate. Stewart is credited with raising national awareness of the bill after many of America’s news outlets failed to give it proper coverage. His interview with a group of first responders, conducted during the last episode of The Daily Show before their 2010 Holiday hiatus, is certainly worth a watch.
The National Collector's Mint Tenth Anniversary 9/11 Coin
You couldn't turn on the television a couple of years ago without seeing ads for the "10th Anniversary Commemorative" 9/11 coin. It was quickly discovered that pretty much every claim made by the Mint was a farce, and that the National Collector's Mint was little better than a scam artist. Most of us probably sensed that when the commercial claimed that the silver in the coin was "from a vault beneath the ashes of Ground Zero."
A review of the fine print makes things look even worse. Not only is the coin not recognized as currency in the U.S., but the only country where the coin is legal tender is Liberia.
The company itself already had an "F" grade from the Better Business Bureau prior to releasing this coin. It would have been nice if these facts had prevented the National Collector's Mint from running ads on some of the channels that would later run pieces criticizing the coin, but at least the scam has been widely exposed as the fraud it so obviously is. See the commercial and some classic Anderson Cooper outrage here.
Pastries and Tragedy With Julie & Julia
Though foodies and rom-com lovers alike have a soft spot for Julie & Julia, few viewers had positive things to say about the film's portrayal of 9/11. There is an intense concentration of September 11th references in the film, as our protagonist (Amy Adams) works at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation assisting victims and their families. When Julie isn't finding herself by cooking soufflés, she is dealing with the claims of those who were injured or lost loved ones in the attacks. This results in a string of incredibly depressing moments aimed a milking a reaction from the audience.
It isn't all tears though. There is a delightful gag where Julie's boyfriend calls, pretending to be sick, only to confess that what is ailing him is "not enough sex." Tasteful. While we, in fact, have the same ailment, we think that was hardly the time or place to bring it up.
Though telling the story of Julie Powell's life in New York in 2002 requires some discussion of 9/11, the film's use of the tragedy to evoke moments of sentimentality sours an otherwise likable film, and leaves a bad taste in viewers' mouths.
Fox News Tries to Stop the "Ground Zero Mosque"
In 2009, when a Muslim group announced plans to build an Islamic community center in a lower Manhattan neighborhood, they must have expected some negative media coverage. But there's no way they could have anticipated so much attention. Though the group had worshipped near the site for many years, though there was another mosque closer to Ground Zero already, and despite the innumerable other arguments against protesting this mosque, the right-wing media squeezed over a year's worth of outrage from the planned community center.
The controversy began as most controversies do, with a reasonable dialogue. After The New York Times published a front-page story detailing the plan for the Cordoba Project, there was little immediate response, and certainly no outrage. It took almost six months for the opposition to the re-branded "WTC Mosque" to take off in the conservative media.
Salon created a timeline of the events for easy review, and unsurprisingly, the negative response to the community center was stirred up laregly by Fox News, the New York Post, and right-wing talk radio. As the controversy became national news, outlets known to be more centrist including Newsweek and 60 Minutes took up the controversy, themselves using the language "9/11 Mosque."
Despite the controversy, the Park51 Islamic Center opened its doors in 2011 and serves community members of all faiths. They would like to remind you that their project is still not a mosque.
John Gibson's Mudslinging
It won't surprise you to hear that Fox News anchors have politicized 9/11 on numerous occasions. Former The Big Story anchor John Gibson engaged in one of the most egregious instances of post-9/11 mudslinging we've seeing while Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani were on his show. Gibson asserted on the air that "the 9/11 Truth Movement ... has infected people ... including Congressman Ron Paul." Paul, who was engaged in the GOP primary race at the time, and, it seems, wasn't a favorite of Fox News, had never made any statements claiming to that effect, and had gone on record saying that Al-Queda was behind the attacks.
Though Gibson was known for making controversial and ridiculous statements, including mocking actor Heath Ledger shortly after his death, some believe that his slander of Paul led to his 2008 dismissal from Fox News.
The Today Show Skips 9/11 Moment of Silence to Interview Kris Jenner
"Never Forget ... to Keep up the Kardashians" was the message The Today Show sent to its audience members on September 11, 2012. When faced with the choice between airing the national moment of silence for the terrorist attacks and cutting to an interview the Kris Jenner, they took the low road.
Rather than apologize, NBC released a statement saying, "The Today Show dedicated a considerable amount of time to September 11th coverage this morning throughout the entire show." At least they didn't go for one of those half-hearted apologies: we much prefer cavalier nonchalance.
What riveting issues did Jenner discuss? The Kardashian family matriarch spent much of the interview talking about her recent breast augmentation. NBC's New York affiliate, NBC-4, wisely decided to stick with their 9/11 coverage during the interview.
Bravo's Disgraceful Reality
Shock and awe tactics on reality television are nothing new, but July marked yet another embarrassing low-point in the ever-tenuous relationship between reality TV and human decency. Amanda Bertonicini, a castmember on Bravo's Princesses: Long Island, a program that follows the lives of grown rich women who live with their parents, recently staged a photo shoot where a model stripped down in front of a statue of fallen NYFD fireman Jonathan Ielpi and pretended to pour beer down its throat.
As you might expect, this did not go over well with the locals. Bertocini, like Ielpi, hails from Great Neck, NY, the location of the statue, which further infuriated members of the community and audience members alike. Local news channel PIX-11 documented the community's outrage shortly after the episode aired.
"Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" By Toby Keith
It is a pretty intense race for "Worst Country Song Inspired By 9/11." Many out there choose Darryl Worley's "Have Your Forgotten" or Charlie Daniels's "It Ain't A Rag It's A Flag," and while we certainly see why a song that attempts to rhyme "bin Laden" with "forgotten" could be your choice, we have to go with "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" by Toby Keith.
For us, Keith's tune wins out because of its call to aggression regardless of how many facts you have at your disposal. While "Have You Forgotten" presents an actual (albeit simple) argument for why we should be at war, "Courtesy of the Red, While, and Blue" advocates a scorched Earth policy for anyone who fucks with the U.S. in the least, regardless of the circumstances.
Even the most hawkish among you have to admit that "put a boot in your ass" isn't the only possible foreign policy solution, and that responding to a "black eye" with lighting "up your world like the 4th of July" isn't necessarily to best way to foster better relationships abroad. Keith wasn't going to record the song, reserving it for concerts only, but he was prompted by Marine Corps General James L. Jones to lay down the track "to lift the morale of the troops." It turns out if you blare songs that tell the troops not to question the motives for the war they're fighting, their morale will stay pretty buoyant.
MSNBC Replays NBC 9/11 Coverage
How soon is "too soon?" When does replaying a historical event become a duty to posterity and when is it mere ratings mongering? These questions were front and center when MSNBC elected to replay NBC's 9/11 coverage on the fifth anniversary of the attacks in 2006.
Though it is certainly easy to question the motives of a network in the hyper-competitive cable news landscape, MSNBC's Dan Abrams made some compelling arguments for re-airing the footage in a 2009 essay. In this piece, Abrams questions when something ceases to be news and when it becomes history, and compares the re-airing to the memorial being constructed in Lower Manhattan.
Regardless of where you stand on the ethics of their choice now, the decision was, and still is, widely unpopular. Mo Rocca called MSNBC's programming "death porn." Gawker chastised the network with their 2008 headline, "Have A Very MSNBC 9/11." Though many tuned in for the coverage, MSNBC's choice has left a bad taste in the mouths of many in the seven years they have opted to air the footage.
Summit Entertainment's 2010 Film, Remember Me
If you're anything like us, you didn't see the 2010 Robert Pattinson vehicle, Remember Me. We're told that the majority of the film delves into the standard, boring rom-com clichés that we all love to hate. You have a guy seducing a girl to get revenge, but then falling in love along the way. You have a distant yet loving father. You have romantic walks in the park. Then, you have 9/11.
Though the prior action of the film has nothing to do with politics, foreign policy, or anything relevant to the attacks, the film ends when our protagonist finds himself in the North Tower on that fateful day. Since this sounded like some sick joke when we first found out about it too, we've included a link for those who won't take our word for it.
Media Self-Censorship
"Anyone who claims the U.S. Media didn't censor itself is kidding you. It wasn't a matter of government pressure but a reluctance to criticize anything in a war that was obviously supported by the vast majority of the people. And this isn't just a CNN issue—every journalist who was in any way involved in 9/11 is partly responsible."
These sound like the words of a far-left blogger or a media watchdog, but in fact they came from the late Rena Golden, who was not only a CNN employee, but was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of CNN International. Golden wasn't the only media personality to criticize the news coverage in the months after 9/11. Dan Rather had similarly harsh criticism of the media. He said that the U.S. news media was "practicing a form of self-censorship" in their approach to the news after 9/11.
Though the ensuing years since 2002 have brought about hand-wringing and soul searching from journalists, we'll never know how the course of history could have changed if we had leveled a more critical eye at our government as we dealt with our national trauma.
A Shift in Vocabulary
"For decades prior to 9/11, the four largest American newspapers called waterboarding torture, according to a study by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard. Then, in 2004, in the aftermath of revelations that the Bush Administration was engaged in waterboarding of terrorist suspects, the four newspapers almost never referred to waterboarding as torture."
This is just one of the eye-opening shifts in vocabulary outlined in Raymond Bonner's short, thoughtful piece for The Atlantic, "The Media and 9/11: How We Did." In the nationalistic fervor of the post-9/11 media landscape, a number of shifts in word usage marked a willingness to accept government narratives in the hunt for terrorists and to cast a blind-eye to the methods America was employing to do so. Bonner also points to the rise of the word "detainee," when "prisoner" had been the preferred word for years prior.
In the years following 9/11, the media was also more than willing to slide the word "suspected" in front of the word "terrorist," which simultaneously freed the media and the government from the burden of proof while ruining numerous lives. Language is a powerful thing, and our collective willingness to twist it to the U.S.' interest has caused plenty of damage in the decade following September 11th.
The Press Didn't Cover Secret Prisons Until 2005
Dana Priest won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for her work uncovering the C.I.A.'s secret prisons after September 11th. Unfortunately, it took almost half a decade after they were formed for the media to do any substantial reporting on them. It has been alleged that the Bush Administration authorized the creation of "Black Sites" roughly a week after September 11th, but the first major reporting on them came from Priest in the Fall of 2005 in her Washington Post piece, "CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons."
In Priest's piece, she revealed that a network of secret prisons was being run by the CIA, alleging the existence of prisons in Thailand, Afghanistan, Eastern Europe, and of course, Guantanmo Bay. President George W. Bush did not publicly acknowledge the existence of these prisons until the Fall of 2006.
It is difficult to be too hard on the media for not pushing harder on stories like these. After Dana Priest broke the story, not only did she receive death threats from the public and mysterious phone calls from the CIA, but her story also led to calls from major government officials for an investigation of her employer, The Washington Post. You can see video of Priest recounting her experiences after breaking the story here.