Attack On America: Covering The Terror
At first it appeared to be a terrible accident. A plane had hit the World Trade Center. It turned out to be so much more than that.

New York: Ground Zero. Emergency personnel and news crews rushed to the burning towers to help the victims and document what was happening. They got in close - -- too close. Everyone in the area ran when the towers collapsed. Many rescuers didn't make it. Washington: Pentagon was hit. There were many sensitive decisions for news managers to make. These included when to identify a group of students who had been passengers, and were now dead. Boston: Hijacked planes, grieving families. Security at the airport had missed several hijackers, including the suicide pilots. Many passengers on the doomed jets were from New England. Florida: The training ground. The killer pilots had been trained there. How had these outsiders operated undetected for so long?

Checking the reaction and impact across the USA
Not long after the terrorist attacks, a San Francisco news manager sent a seasoned reporter and photographer on a mission to see what Americans were feeling. KGO-TV ran a multi-part series of Stories From the Heartland, a trip across America on an Amtrak train.

In Cleveland, individuals perceived to be of Middle Eastern heritage were harassed and targeted with slurs. All this was captured on tape.

Money raised to help victims' families
Over 90 media organizations in the Madison area --- including television, radio and print --- joined to raise money to help the survivors and victims' families.

Before and after the September, 2001 attacks, television stations investigated lax security at airports and other major public facilities.

Criminals worked at airport
Investigative reporter Joel Grover of KCBS-TV spoke with convicted felons working at the Los Angeles International Airport. Many employees had unrestricted access to airplanes. Who knew who had slipped through?

Airport workers weren't screened
In Cincinnati, WCPO-TV talked with employees who said there were few background checks of people who cleaned the planes and worked behind the scenes.

Danger in the luggage
Lax checking of planes' baggage compartments was probed by WEWS-TV, Cleveland.

Air freight companies failed to enforce security
In Washington, WJLA-TV investigators easily walked up to cargo planes and went anywhere they wanted.

Security hazards: Unguarded small airports
Open gates. No guards. No fences. Airplanes --- including substantial charter craft --- within easy reach. Small airfields lack safeguards. It could be an opportunity for a terrorist disaster. This was investigated by WABC-TV, New York.

Toxic trains: Dangerous cargo moves everywhere
Experts warned of the dangers posed by deadly chemicals that move by rail.
You could see the potential when a train carrying chlorine derailed outside of Augusta. It released a toxic cloud that killed nine people. Officials said then that many, many more people would have died if the accident had happened in an urban area.
The issues of rail safety and an alarming lack of security were updated by reporters at WGCL-TV, Atlanta, and KXAS- TV, Fort Worth.

Chemical plants: Easy targets, poorly guarded
These factories could become weapons of mass destruction. Major weaknesses in this security were exposed by WLS-TV, Chicago.
Investigative reporter Chuck Goudie made an analogy everyone could grasp: "Just as al Qaeda hijackers transformed jetliners into flying bombs on 9-11, federal authorities are alarmed at how easily a terrorist could transform your neighborhood chemical plant into a weapon of mass destruction."

Propane stolen, No one tracking it
There are common products and equipment that could be used by terrorists.
The investigative team at KMGH-TV, Denver, learned that more than 100 propane gas cylinders had been stolen from businesses in six months. Just one of the missing tanks could pose a serious threat --- powerful enough to take down a small building. The spike in thefts had gone unnoticed. The discovery led to an investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Underground cables vulnerable
Very few New York City manhole covers had been secured seven years after 9/11. Investigators at WABC-TV exposed the vulnerability. Beneath the streets were the underground cables carrying electricity and computer data --- the lifelines for America's cities. In New York City alone, there are 250,000 manholes that give crews access to the critical underground infrastructure.

Stolen from the military: Bomb ingredients, weapons
The American military has been unable to stop the continuing theft of its C-4 explosives, weapons and more. These items vanish from U.S. military institutions. In Raleigh, WRAL-TV reported on military explosives and weapons being seized from militia groups, drug dealers, mental patients, convicted felons and others.

Potential terrorists cross Mexican border
People from countries on the Terror Watch List enter the United States illegally. An investigation by KVOA-TV, Tucson, showed how little has been done to stop the outsiders.

School security: Gaps are common
Children and their classrooms can be targets for anyone from a person with some sort of terrorist agenda to an estranged parent or a sexual predator. A letter purportedly written by Osama bin Laden encouraged his supporters to go after all Americans, especially women and children. In Detroit, WDIV-TV indicated areas for improvements.

Weapons of Worry: Missed By Security
Despite an ongoing effort to improve security in the schools and to prevent terrorist attacks in the public arena, there are weapons that are beyond the current controls. There are many weapons that can be slipped past security and can be used to kill. The danger was examined by veteran consumer investigator Al Sunshine of WFOR-TV, Miami.

Sports stadiums were wide open
A huge crowd watching a major, televised game couldbe targeted. In Seattle, KOMO-TV led experts on a tour. In Denver, KMGH-TV was shown a sophisticated video surveillance system.

Prepared for Terrorist Attack?
When a chemical spill stopped traffic and stimulated evacuations, the public safety response was similar to what might be needed if there was a terrorist attack. A tanker truck overturned during rush hour on a busy expressway. Hundreds of commuters were stranded. Trains were stopped. High-rise apartments were evacuated as a toxic cloud spread.
By analyzing their own video and government agency logs, reporters from WGN-TV documented how the police and fire departments responded, and analyzed where the city's emergency staffers could improve if terrorists caused something similar.

Terrorist or Tourist? Security Fears Hit Home
A Pakistani citizen was taken into custody after he was spotted shooting videotape of Charlotte's skyscraper bank buildings. When a police officer questioned him, he gave conflicting statements. It was later discovered he had been in the country illegally for more than a decade and he had videotaped landmarks in other major cities.

Anti-terrorism funds buying questionable items
The Homeland Security department distributes huge amounts of money to state and local governments to improve the readiness of the country's first responders.
Grants to fire departments were investigated by news team members at WESH-TV, Orlando. There were a number of expenditures that had little to do with fighting terrorism or boosting readiness.

Trade Center Blast: Terror in New York
At least five people were killed in 1993, the first time the towers were targeted. A lunch hour explosion endangered 50,000 people. Television transmitters were cut off. The towers turned into chimneys of choking smoke, and frightened New Yorkers wondered if more explosions would follow elsewhere.

Oklahoma City Explosion: Covering the Terror
That this could happen in America's heartland was unthinkable. Even more astounding was the news that Americans had unleashed this violence on fellow Americans, murdering more than 150 men, women and children.

Prepared for terrorists and covering a political convention
The FBI received unconfirmed information that a domestic group was planning to disrupt a Democratic National Convention by attacking news media vehicles with explosives or incendiary devices. One possibility was hijacking a news truck and forcing reporters to broadcast their manifesto. The planning that went into preparing for the convention in Boston in 2004 holds lessons that can be applied to other major events.

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