At Ground Zero: 25 Stories from Young Reporters Who Were There

by Sam Erman (Editor), Chris Bull (Editor)

The young reporters featured in this book were in the midst of a tragedy that most Americans felt deeply if from a distance. Amongst them are contributors from Newsweek, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, The Advocate, Stars and Stripes, CNN, Reuters, the Stuyvesant Standard, Yomiuri Shimbun, India Abroad, the Columbia News Service, and more. Their powerful stories and individual experiences are personal in their details but universal in their impact. Many contributors were at the scene of the collapse, and all describe the anger, thrills, terror, depression, and redemption that accompanied their coverage. They relate who they interviewed, what they photographed, and how they presented the information they uncovered to editors and readers. Here, a Fox News telecaster describes her heartbreaking work interviewing victims’ families. An NPR radio correspondent records the sounds of crowds fleeing the collapse while a New York Daily News photographer is buried in rubble. South Asian- and Middle Eastern-Americans terrified by potential repercussions speak to a Newsday reporter, and a Columbia Journalism School student presents articles written while planning to drop out of journalism school because of the trauma. Like most Americans, these writers are not seasoned war correspondents. Instead, they are smart, articulate, sensitive adults writing personal stories, memoirs in miniature, of their coming-of-age as journalists during a time of national tribulation.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

324 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2002

Reviews

[Dr. Margaret Ascolani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering I was in first grade during 9/11, this book offered a great deal of insight into the attacks. While the 25 journalists experienced similar events, their responses, interpretations, and approaches offer a robust view of New York on that day and the weeks to follow.

[Lisa Konet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of these stories more than others but they are all an account of 25 different accounts of reporters that covered that day and events leading up to tragedy.
After reading 102 minutes, I wasn’t as engaged with this. But still chilling, horrific and everyone that passes and helped people survive deserve respect

[Levi Swalls · Rating 3 out of 5]

At Ground Zero is a book based on the attacks on 9/11 through 25 reporters who saw it first hand. At some points, it gets hard to read, not in a difficulty way but in an emotional way and of course, it would because of the topic it’s about. Though sadly the reporters' paths never cross.
If you like multi-story, historical novels I would recommend it. I personally didn’t enjoy this book, I just enjoyed learning more about the topic that it’s about. If you like learning about 9/11 then I would recommend this book. But if you don’t like any of those then I would not recommend this novel.

[Greg Van Vorhis · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I started reading this book, I found it fascinating because it was full of first-hand accounts by reporters who had been at Grounds Zero on the day of and days following the 9-11 attacks. It was especially interesting for me because I was a reporter at the time of the attacks.

But about 1/4 of the way through it, everything started sounding the same. I tried two more accounts, but I just couldn't talk myself into continuing. So I moved on to a different book.

[debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was so moving...i knew the towers were taken out by planes, but i didn't realize the devastation that occurred in the ground zero area...i found it difficult to comprehend what people went through until reading this...i highly recommend it...