Posted on 09/07/2007 1:17:25 AM PDT by Stoat
Exclusive
Thursday, September 6th 2007, 6:46 PM
It marks the first time one of New York's local broadcast stations has opted not to broadcast the full reading of the 2,749 names.
"We decided to provide continuous coverage on our Digital Channel and Web site so our audience could have a choice between their regular programming and the Sept. 11 ceremony," Ch. 7 news director Kenny Plotnik told The Daily News.
"We hope to be respectful to the families and serve our audience," Plotnik said. "This is not about ratings, it's about what's right."
Bill Doyle, who heads the Coalition of 9/11 Families, said he was "very disappointed" by WABC's decision.
"The highlight of the ceremony is listening to your loved one's name being announced," said Doyle, whose son Joey was killed in the attacks. "Why would they even think of not broadcasting the entire event? I'm going to E-mail ABC and tell them this is not right."
"I can't believe ABC would not air the tribute," said Linda Selnow, whose sister, Nancy Farley, was killed. "We should turn ABC off the air!"
"I hope they'll reconsider," added Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son Christian was killed. "Those names are a reminder of what we lost."
The station began preparing viewers about the change in coverage on Wednesday night - in carefully word updates delivered by anchor Bill Ritter.
"We are in fact providing live coverage of the initial ceremony beginning at 8:25 a.m." and through ‘Good Morning America' on Channel 7, Plotnik said.
That means Ritter will be at Ground Zero starting at 5 a.m. He'll remain there throughout the ceremony for the digital and web site coverage.
Viewers tuning in to Channel 7 for the ceremony will see Ritter until 7 a.m., when GMA starts. He'll return at 8:25 a.m. for the ceremony. Once the second moment of silence ends - shortly after 9 a.m. - the station will switch to regular programming.
It's a bold move in a city where many are still in mourning six years after the attacks. News directors have discussed scaling back the coverage, but only WABC-TV has taken that step.
"The fact of the matter is, there's still a hole in the ground," said Dan Forman, senior vice president of news at Channel 4, which is carrying the entire ceremony. "The healing is not complete. It strikes a chord in the community."
WCBS/Ch. 2, WNYW/Ch. 5, WWOR/Ch. 9 and WPIX/Ch. 11 have all confirmed they will broadcast the entire ceremony.
It won't change after the "hole in the ground" is filled you idiot....it strikes a chord with all of America and with much of the world, not just "the community".. And it will continue to do so long after the Global War On Terror is won, despite the efforts of you morons in the media to pander to those who never cared to begin with.
They don't get it, they never have, and they never will.
Well, yeah, but aside from an attempt to say something "notable" that really doesn't contribute much, Dan.
I have never understood the point in reading that many names. God knows their names and so do their loved ones.
09/11 doesn’t matter to the LameStream Media anymore. Now look, if it would be accompanied by a huge “Bush’s Fault” rally, they might cover it. But remembering the victims and our men and women at war right now? Fuggetaboutit.
From the article:
"News directors have discussed scaling back the coverage, but only WABC-TV has taken that step."
Translation: "News directors of ALL of the networks have been itching to scale back, or better yet to dispense entirely with the ceremony for years, because it's a ratings loser among their core viewer demographic at that time of day, which is uneducated, unpatriotic, unemployed Liberals.".
First it will be the top-rated station (WABC) because they, being out in front, have the ability and room to experiment with new ideas. When their daytime, unemployed Liberal demographic doesn't squeal over this change, the other stations will soon follow suit.
This is merely the first domino in the line to fall. Quickly, other stations will follow, and in a short time the only place that you will be able to see the entire ceremony will be on YouTube, uploaded by a private citizen with a camcorder.
In the meantime, the organizers of the event will see this trend and scale back the ceremony.
Eventually, the 9/11 Anniversary Ceremony will be little more than what is currently being done for Pearl Harbor Day, which in my view, at least, is not enough.
It is not my intent to accuse you or anyone else of being unpatriotic, I only wish to suggest that we are only talking about a few minutes here, and I wish to ask the question:
Can't we spare just a few minutes of airtime here for a solemn remembrance of the essential struggle of Humanity in the 21st Century?
I mean no unkindness, unfriendliness or disrespect;: I only wish to suggest that after only six years of mourning, we still have victims' families who are grieving over the loss of their husbands, wives, daughters, sons and children...and to these people, hearing the names of their loved ones on TV is very meaningful (see numerous quotes in the article)...are they not worth the rejection of Nielsen ratings for just a little while longer?
Flame me if you will, but I mean no unkindness. I guess that this is all just a matter of being too soon for me, and I'm just a regular guy on the other side of our Nation..... I have no friends or loved ones who have any direct connection whatsoever with the events of 9/11..
Daryl Worley's
"Have You Forgotten?"
I hear people sayin'. We Don't need this war.
I say there's some things worth fightin' for.
What about our freedom, and this piece of ground?
We didn't get to keep 'em by backin' down.
They say we don't realize the mess we're gettin' in
Before you start preachin' let me ask you this my friend.
Chorus
Have you forgotten, how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten, when those towers fell
We had neighbors still inside goin through a livin hell
And you say we shouldn't worry bout Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
You took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it's too disturbin for you and me
It'll just breed anger is what the experts say
If it was up to me I'd show it everyday
Some say this country just out lookin' for a fight
Well after 9/11 man I'd have to say you're right.
Chorus
Have you forgotten, how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell
We had neighbors still inside goin' through a livin' hell
And we vow to get the ones behind Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
I've been there with the soldiers
Who've gone away to war
you can bet they remember just what they're fightin' for
Have you forgotten
All the people killed
Yes some went down like heroes
In that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten
About our Pentagon
All the loved ones that we lost
And those left to carry on
Don't you tell me not to worry 'bout Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?!
I can never hear those lyrics too many times. Thank you very much for posting :-)
WE WILL NEVER FORGET !!!!!!!
OH except dont forget to commemorate the Holocaust !
It's probably a ratings loser for most demographics, to be honest. It would be inappropriate to skip the main part of the ceremony, but giving over hours of presumably commercial-free air time to the reading of the names on every channel is a lot to ask. Would you also insist that every AM and FM radio station pre-empt its programming to carry the ceremony?
the other stations will soon follow suit.
Eventually, I'm sure they will. Eventually, the city itself will scale back the anniversary observance except for big-number years. I'm sorry to sound callous, but life goes on. Some folks will feel this is too soon, but when will it be time? In ten years? Twenty? How long after all but a handful of people have stopped watching?
This is merely the first domino in the line to fall. Quickly, other stations will follow, and in a short time the only place that you will be able to see the entire ceremony will be on YouTube, uploaded by a private citizen with a camcorder.
I doubt it. You mention the Pearl Harbor commemoration -- that is carried in full on C-SPAN each year. Was it carried live on radio for hours in 1947, including reading the names of every victim?
The trend is for ever-greater proliferation of media on satellite, on cable and online, so that events with a small audience is available to those who want it. And in a year and a half, when the transition to digital TV is completed, every over-the-air channel will have multiple feeds at its disposal -- a capability WABC will use to carry the full ceremony on 9/11.
I agree that events like the 9/11 memorial should be available to the public, but I can't find any outrage that it won't be everywhere.
It is not my intent to accuse you or anyone else of being unpatriotic, I only wish to suggest that we are only talking about a few minutes here,
We're not talking about a few minutes. We're talking about the reading of some 2,800 names. My recollection of years past is that it took a couple of hours.
Can't we spare just a few minutes of airtime here for a solemn remembrance of the essential struggle of Humanity in the 21st Century?
Of course -- and as outlined in the article, WABC will carry the ceremony except the reading of the names.
I mean no unkindness, unfriendliness or disrespect;: I only wish to suggest that after only six years of mourning, we still have victims' families who are grieving over the loss of their husbands, wives, daughters, sons and children...and to these people, hearing the names of their loved ones on TV is very meaningful (see numerous quotes in the article)...are they not worth the rejection of Nielsen ratings for just a little while longer?
I'm all for sensitivity to the victims' friends and family, all of whom will have access to the full ceremony. i do not think it's reasonable to ask, as some vocal members of the victims' family groups seem to, that we bring everything else to a halt for everyone else.
There will be plenty of memorial ceremonies across the country and the airwaves will be filled will them all day long.
I wasn't insisting on anything, I was merely asking a question.
Thank you for your time :-)
Station changes course under pressure from families
Breaking News
Friday, September 7th 2007, 11:05 AM
The change came after the Daily News reported the station's decision to shift live coverage to its digital cable channel and the internet, sparking outrage from victims' loved ones.
"I made some calls, I spoke to families, we got some emails," Ch. 7 news director Kenny Plotnik told The News today.
"The real issue, there is really a terrible misunderstanding with digital channels. There seems to be a situation where people don't understand the concept of digital channels."
Most of the families Plotnik spoke to said they couldn't get the digital channel, and argued that if they couldn't see the full coverage on Ch. 7, they wouldn't get it. The top-rated station in New York had initially intended to switch to "Live with Regis & Kelly," "Rachael Ray" and "The View" when every other channel would be carrying the ceremony.
Backing off the hours-long name-reading ceremony is something that was discussed by news directors in town after the fifth anniversary of 9/11, but only Ch. 7 decided to take the step.
The station figured regular fare on the broadcast channel would be an alternative, while also serving those who wanted the coverage with the digital channel. But, many folks do not know the digital outlet exisits - it's on many local cable services including Time Warner and Comcast. Others said they didn't want to watch the ceremony on the computer.
"People were upset and confused," Plotnik told the News. "They were upset. It was upset and confusion. There wasn't any anger."
Plotnik said there would be other opportunities to use the digital channel down the road, but the 9/11 ceremony was not the time to test it. The station alerted viewers to the latest change today.
"We were trying to service everybody and give every body what they wanted," he said.
The Ground Zero ceremony gets underway at 8:25 a.m. Tuesday and all local stations are planning to go live with the full ceremony.
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