9/11 Remembered

 

Everything Changed

I was in Baltimore the day of the attack. It was feared Baltimore was going to be a target. There were military helicopter warships, patrolling the skies above the harbor.

We were there for a public radio conference. I went to my room to call the station and told them to stay with coverage until further notice and cancel all underwriting credits.

While I was talking with my news director I saw people on TV jump and the collapsing building. I heard his reaction. I was dumbstruck. I spent another hour on the phone calling family to tell them I was okay and ask how they were doing.

I remember wanting to be back with my family. I was safe, but unsure how we would get back. All flights were canceled. There were no cars to rent. No bus seats available. Fortunately, my boss and I were on a packed Amtrak train the next day. 

As we passed the destruction in New York, the train went silent. The full impact of the destruction and death stunned all of us. 

Earlier on that day we were discussing paradigm shifts. The Great Depression and World Wars. They came with every generation. Our conversation was interrupted by the announcement of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. Nothing has been the same since. The events of that day define paradigm shift.

2001 - Terrorist attacks kills a total of 2,751 victims confirmed to have died in the initial attacks.

2008 - Economic collapse - The Great Recession

2016 - Trump Election - Democracy under attack

2019 - Worldwide Pandemic - Failure of leadership

2020 Electoral process attacked through lies and disinformation (The Big Lie)

Jan 6 2021 - Domestic terrorists attack the capitol in order to overthrow the election.

An event that should have brought us together...instead, we're a deeply divided country.

Paradigm Shift

The night before some really heavy thunderstorms rolled through. It delayed my flight to Baltimore four hours. I was annoyed. All that was forgotten the next morning. The skies were clear, bright blue, as the sun rose. I checked into the meeting for program directors and ten minutes later, everything changed. In an ironic twist we were discussing paradigm shifts when the first plane hit. Everytime I see a late summer sky like that one eighteen years ago, I'm reminded of that day and how fragile this all is.

9/11 Paradigm Shift

Where was I on 9/11? 

I was in Baltimore. I arrived the night before for the Public Radio Program Directors Association (PRPD) Conference. I signed up for a pre-conference session with a management consultant. The all-day session was about getting the most out of on-air talent.

I rose on 9/11 to a clear and sunny day. It was glorious. I opened the curtains and looked out from my hotel room onto the inner harbor. The sun was gleaming off the water.

I noticed a helicopter gunship fixed in place, making circles. Until it got to me. The ship stopped. It seemed clear they were looking at me. I backed away from the window. The gunship resumed it circling. This was about a half-hour before the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

Part of what we focused on at the start of the session was managing in an era of a paradigm shift. The idea was to get our talent to continue to strive relevance in a changing world. In this sense it's a shift in how we think and talk about things. A paradigm shift for my parents was World War II. As this discussion started to unfold, one of the PRPD board members came into our session to tell us a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. The meeting was over.

9/11 was a paradigm shift. My boss lamented the events of that day by saying, "This changes everything." He meant that everything that was expected of Public Radio was about to change. What we covered and how we covered it was going to take on a greater importance. Everything else was going to have less relevance. He was right. I saw a challenge as we struggled to grasp what had happened and what this meant for the future. He felt the loss of the way things used to be. With any paradigm we have no control over the catalyst that brings about the change. We change our perspective to adapt.

The change in what was expected on Public Radio didn't happen overnight, but the audience began to shift for us from a classical imperative to a news imperative. The shift happened faster than we could adjust for it, but by 2005 it was clear to us the changes that happened and what we had to do about those changes.

The relevance in this case was the sociological change brought about by the events of 9/11. Those events changed everything.