"September Twelfth": A Newsroom's Courageous Response to 9/11

Tomorrow, America will acknowledge that it's been 20 years since terrorists in four hijacked passenger jets launched coordinated attacks that brought death and destruction to New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The victims’ families will gather at the 9/11 Memorial Museum in lower Manhattan to remember their loved ones. The first responders — those who survived and those who perished — will also be remembered and honored. Now, a conversation about some journalistic first responders at the Wall Street Journal.  The Journal’s newsroom was across the street from the twin towers of the World Trade Center. That newsroom was wiped out by smoke and debris when the towers collapsed on that horrific day. When the planes first hit the towers, some reporters were in the newsroom, others were scattered in different proximities to ground zero. But somehow they managed to do exemplary reporting that day, that earned the paper a Pulitzer Prize. Joining Tom now is Dean Rotbart. He’s an award-winning former reporter and columnist for the Wall Street Journal and the host of the podcast, Monday Morning Radio.  He has written a book about how the Journal staff covered the events of 9/11, and the days that followed. It’s called September 12th: An American Comeback Story. Dean Rotbart joins us on Zoom.Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.