Events of 9/11 gave real-time lessons in media

Sept. 11, 2001, was a day that shocked and saddened so many across the country and the world. 

My youngest son and I watched the TV in disbelief as a second plane plowed into the World Trade Center in New York; it was immediately apparent this was no accident. Like so many others, I spent the next half hour calling family and close friends just to let them know I loved them before heading to work.

That fall, I had started working as the publication manager and adviser for The Chart. The campus canceled classes after the Twin Towers attack — the first time in the four-year institution's history that classes were canceled for a reason other than the weather. Faculty and staff gathered around the TV in the communication department conference room, hoping to find answers to the unthinkable. I finally found my way to The Chart newsroom. Though it was a Tuesday, usually a busy day in the newsroom, that morning was eerily quiet.

The fall semester had started off slow. Many Chart staff members were unsure as to what their purpose was or why they were even working for the student newspaper. But by midmorning, staff members began to filter into the newsroom. 

We all had that numb feeling, as words just didn't seem to come easy.

Suddenly, the newsroom phone began to ring. A Chart alumnus, Noppadol Paothong, who at that time was a photographer for The Joplin Globe, called with a tip to say that people were lining up at the gas pumps. Another caller said students were gathering in front of the big-screen TV in the old Lions' Den, which used to be in the basement of Billingsly Student Center. Another caller said students were donating blood.

The newsroom buzz had the student journalists asking, "What do we do?" 

My answer? "Go and report." They grabbed pens, paper, recorders and cameras and reported on how a national event was affecting the campus. While other students went home or to the residence halls to be with family and friends, Chart staff members knew they had a job to do. 

Within 24 hours, that week's issue was complete. The staff had produced enough stories, photos and graphics on 9/11 to fill several pages.

The Associated Collegiate Press later would collect student newspapers from across the country for a special publication to showcase 9/11 coverage. Most colleges and universities had their 9/11 front page displayed, but The Chart was one of the few publications to receive two pages. The staff would go on to win state, regional and national recognition for the reporting that week.

Ten years later, Missouri Southern students still have the images and stories of that day ingrained in their memories. The outstanding reporting and professionalism of The Chart has continued during that time. 

It's this type of hands-on journalism that will help record history for future generations so that events such as 9/11 and the heroes who died that day will always be remembered. 

And, a new generation of journalists will always step in to tell the stories that need to be told.