ABSTRACT
The televisual images of the events of September 11, 2001 seared into the consciousness and historical memory of all those who witnessed them. Such was their iconic power to capture the enormity of this crime against humanity and symbolism of US dominance visibly under assault. Television “mediated” the events of September 11 for vast majorities around the globe-for many of us in real timeand it was by these images that we first came to know of them. In the West such scenes undoubtedly played a huge role in initial feelings of shock and disbelief, but soon these reactions needed to give way to a time of considered reflection and analysis if public deliberation was not to be short-circuited into a blind endorsement of military retaliation involving indiscriminate killing, casualties, and inflicted humanitarian crises (see Glover 1999). Independent estimates confirm that by December 2001 the civilian death toll by US bombing in Afghanistan was in excess of 3,500 people-more than were killed in the collapse of the two
World Trade Towers on September 11 (Herold 2001)—and the US bombing and civilian deaths continued thereafter. Images of these scenes, however, are conspicuous only by their absence from our television screens. Of course, as a medium, television is capable of providing more than searing images. Its different program forms and subject treatments can variously prompt and sustain (or displace and trivialize) public reflection, questioning, analysis, and debate. What forms did these programs take and how well did they live up to their democratic promise?
