How the Albuquerque Journal covered 9

On Sept. 11, 2001, the Journal published its first and only afternoon 'Extra.' Editor's note: As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, today's Centennial Sunday focuses on how the Journal covered that world-altering event. The series marks 100 years of the Pepperday/Lang local family ownership of the Journal. On Sept. 11, 25 years ago, terrorists turned commercial jet liners into giant missiles, not only killing thousands of Americans but also shredding America's sense of security. In the hours after the attacks, Journal staffers flooded the newsroom and immediately found stories to write. Many New Mexicans were either in New York or in our nation's capital at the time. They reached out to us and we to them. Among them were members of the Kirtland Partnership Committee who were in the Pentagon when the 747 struck. 'We heard a noise, then felt a shudder of the building and the sound of breaking glass,' Tony Strati said in a phone interview to the Journal less than an hour after the attack. No member of the group was hurt, but as they exited the Pentagon, they saw people running and some who had been injured. Several members of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce also were in Washington, D.C., walking up the Capitol steps when 'an unidentified 747 came down low toward the building and then pulled up and made a big, wide circle,' Chamber Chairman Mike Stanford told the Journal in a telephone interview at about 10:30 a.m. He said people were running and screaming when the plane 'went right over the building.' Seconds later, it struck the Pentagon. Soon after those interviews, Journal staff requested that we publish a special afternoon edition — the only such edition ever printed by the Albuquerque Journal. Logistics were not simple. The Journal shared its presses with the afternoon Albuquerque Tribune and other publications. But Operations Director Brian Fantl quickly made it happen. By 3 p.m., the newsroom produced an eight-page broadsheet 'Extra' with both national and local stories, distributing it to newsstands throughout the city. By evening, the machines had sold out. Press crews scoured the pressroom for any extra copies, such as those that had been tossed because the printing wasn't perfect or any that had not made it onto delivery trucks. Fantl took the hundreds of additional 'Extras,' stood outside the Journal offices and started handing them to drivers who came looking for a copy. Journal Operations Director Brian Fantl hands copies of the Journal 'Extra' to drivers on the evening of Sept. 11, 2001. At 9 p.m., while working on the next morning's paper, I looked out my window that fronted Jefferson Street. There was Fantl, still handing out papers. A line of headlights snaked as far as I could see, all turning into Journal Center seeking a copy. It reminded me of a similar scene from the movie 'Field of Dreams.' I still remember the mixture of pride, bone-deep grief and chills. People wanted so badly to have something they could hold, could read, could keep to help them remember the day the world changed. The Journal delivered that. Floodlights turn night into day for the hundreds of workers sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero on Sept. 13, 2001. Journal photo Mike Stewart/Journal Ground Zero: 'A smoking vision of hell' While private air travel remained restricted, the Journal was given permission to fly to New York, transporting a local rescue specialist who said he had technology that would help find victims. Then-publisher Tom Lang flew the company jet with the specialist, a local doctor, a reporter and a photographer among those on board. The group landed just a couple of days after the attack. Reporter Leslie Linthicum and photographer Mike Stewart spent the night at Ground Zero. The story was published Sept. 16. Here is the headline and a few excerpts. GROUND ZERO Workers comb World Trade Center debris for signs — not of life, but of lives lost NEW YORK — Midnight in the belly of rubble is as bright as day. There's no sleep for the city at the center of the nation's grief. So here, near the tip of Manhattan, where terrorists erased the signature of the New York skyline, lights burn all night long and illuminate a smoking vision of hell. … Even a quarter a mile away, the street is coated with a soft carpet of soot. The air hangs heavy with smoke and ash. Papers still float from jagged skeletons of wounded buildings and the street still holds remains of a stampede of terror: a Port Authority officer's ticket book abandoned on the sidewalk, a child's car seat, a man's size 11 black shoe. … The remaining walls of the two Trade Tower buildings are truncated lattices of jagged steel. Like oversized Legos they are dwarfed by the cranes that are here now to make quicker work of putting these grim reminders into a city landfill. Mike Holley of Albuquerque stands in front of the still-smouldering Building 7, which was heavily struck by debris when the North Tower collapsed. Holley, a former Bernalillo County firefighter who was a member of a rescue team at the Oklahoma City bombing, volunteered at Ground Zero. Mike Stewart/Journal Piles of rubble that men can scale in a few quick steps are all that is left of two of the world's most impressive skyscrapers. New York City firefighters move like somber armies in black coats with their names across the back … the working class backbone of New York. They wear masks to keep the dust and asbestos at bay, but they are caked with dirt and their coughs show the effects of days spent in this grit. They are joined by thousands of firefighters from departments all over the New York area — and by police officers, Teamsters, demolition contractors and search-and-rescue volunteers from across the country … Also published in that edition was an American flag, which quickly appeared in windows and on walls throughout New Mexico. The Journal printed the flag after a Journal story reported that most stores had sold out of flags. A Day of Infamy that should never be forgotten The beams from Tower Two of the World Trade Center arrived at the Albuquerque Civic Plaza on Sept. 11, 2002. Hundreds of New Mexicans came to pay their respect, touching the beams and placing flags on them. Greg Sorber/Journal Back in the newsroom after publishing the 'Extra,' the staff quickly turned their sights to publishing the next day's paper, and the next, and the next. Additional pages were added to the paper as more local and national stories emerged. For weeks after the attacks, a member of the newsroom worked around the clock in case news broke anywhere around the world. Reporters and editors would go home each night for a few hours' sleep, only to return early and work past midnight, updating and proofreading the plethora of stories. Design Director Joe Kirby came up with stunning front pages that we called poster pages, made up of one powerful image with a headline. Through the years, the Journal has continued to report on new developments and on the annual remembrances marking the anniversary of that day. Karen Moses is a former editor of the Journal. She can be reached at kmoses@abqjournal.com. Coming Sept. 13: For decades, longtime editor Kent Walz led the fight to keep New Mexicans informed through the Journal's accurate, aggressive reporting and by battling for public access to courtrooms and government records.