Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Their view: News program showed poor taste

Portales News-Tribune Circulation Director Robert Arrowsmith writes a blog at: walkthisway.

cnjonlinehosting.com/

Here's his post from Tuesday:

There is not much that fazes me. It takes quite a bit to shock me, to make the heart skip a beat anymore.

The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, surprised me. It stunned me, and it shocked me to see it played out live on television.

For a time there I had no idea what was going on in the world around me. It did not help that everyone in my household became violently ill within 24 hours, which in the end turned out to be more of a coincidence than anything else.

If there is still something that is fresh on my mind it is 9/11.

Today on ABC, there was the annual moment of silence at Ground Zero. After this, "Good Morning America" was back on with an interview. Less than five minutes into this interview, there is a cut in with a "breaking news update."

After years of hearing there may be attacks on 9/11 by terrorists, seeing the screen post a "breaking news update" less than five minutes after the moment of silence, a moment where I am remembering what happened that day in 2001 ... my heart started racing.

What was happening, on the same day as this tragic moment 11 years later? Were we under attack again? Did terrorists strike somewhere else? ABC had cut away from Ground Zero just five minutes ago; did something happen in New York again?

No, the breaking news was that the president was honoring 9/11.

It is breaking news that the president was honoring 9/11? Really? You had to make me and many others in this country nervous about a tragic moment in time that was just rekindled in our minds to let us know that the president was honoring 9/11?

It would be breaking news that the president was not honoring 9/11.

ABC: classless, tasteless, and an extremely poor choice to panic people with a "breaking news update" that the president was honoring 9/11.

ABC, you should have had your reporter announce in the middle of his Hollywood actor interview that you were going live to Washington where the president was honoring 9/11.

But you did make me nervous. And that does not happen very often.