On this 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the cable news networks are giving significant coverage to the remembrances in Lower Manhattan. Fox News and CNN began coverage around 8:40amET ahead of the national moment of silence led by Pres. and Mrs. Obama and Vice President and Mrs. Biden. FNC’s Rick Leventhal and Eric Shawn are reporting from Ground Zero. Deborah Feyerick is there for CNN and David Shuster is in Lower Manhattan for Al Jazeera America.
Once again, MSNBC is replaying the “Today” show from Sept. 11, 2001. It has become an annual tradition for the network. In earlier years, the rebroadcast was watched by a majority of tuned in cable news viewers. But you have to wonder how many more 9/11s MSNBC will replay the tragedy in full.
NBC News produced a network wide 4-minute special report at 8:45amET. That’s in contrast to NBC’s coverage at this time last year when the “Today” show was heavily criticized for not carrying the moment of silence and instead continued an interview with Kris Jenner. Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie anchored the report.
ABC and CBS incorporated the moment of silence into their morning shows. That being the case it did not air in many Central Time zone markets. Still in their own morning shows, many Mountain and Pacific Time Zone stations produced their own coverage — or chose not to.