Commemorating Sept. 11 with silence

Many readers of our paper – students, alumni and staff – expressed concern and… Many readers of our paper – students, alumni and staff – expressed concern and disappointment yesterday with our decision not to dedicate more of our coverage to the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

I’d like to address that criticism and explain that decision.

First, I want to clarify that the decision was a conscious one, made by the whole staff, and not simply a lapse in memory; such a lapse would be nearly inconceivable.

Also, we did commemorate the anniversary with a small graphic on our newspaper’s front page, next to our flag. Our decision not to generate features or do “two years later” stories was one that we came to after extensive discussion followed by staff consensus.

To us, the two-year anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 is the one where we actually remember, not relive, the event and its effects. Pitt hosted events, and there is a photo essay in today’s paper. This seems to be a year in which people remember Sept. 11, 2001, but not make it the dominant part of their day.

This is healthy, not disrespectful.

Of course, it would have been easy to make it the central focus of our paper; nearly every other paper did. It is always easier to make noise than remain silent; and it is especially difficult to accept that silence is what is called for.

But we felt silence was called for – instead of engaging in mass mourning, which would have felt false.

It goes without saying that merely giving lip service to such a tragedy would have been the greatest sacrilege imaginable, far less respectful to the victims than our decision not to.

Perhaps it is worth saying that newspapers are often more inclined to focus on the present, to focus on the actual world left in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, whether that concerns terrorism or cloned monkeys.

Still, most journalists are among the most nostalgic and sympathetic people in the world, and we, The Pitt News, were far more concerned with not doing a disservice to those we wished to remember than we were with any Student Government Board meeting or research study.

In short, we didn’t think there was anything left to say that hadn’t already been said dozens of times over, so we chose to let everyone say it for and to themselves.

As a nation, I think we’re ready to make the transition to memory instead of memorialization, as difficult as that may be.

And if we feel guilty about not feeling the same sting we did one year ago, let’s not deny that. Whether we like it or not, Sept. 11, 2001, is one year farther away, dulled by time and experience.

Politics have changed, names have been recited and honored, and I know I feel guilty all the time. Because, when you come right down to it, there are classes to attend and blood drive feature photos to take.

At some point, we came through the stage where everything about Sept. 11, 2001 needed to be accompanied with loud, universal cries.

Instead, it is now something that each person takes with him- or herself, keeps in his or her head as a reminder of individual lessons and experiences. The fact that we all felt something deep and human on Sept. 11, 2001 does not mean that it needs to be that same feeling now, just so long as it’s there and we remember it.

How many of us think of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the holiday associated with him? How many of us think of our founding fathers on Presidents’ Weekend? How many of us honor our service workers on Labor Day? September 11, 2001 is not about ceremonies, trite words or press photos, and I hope that it never will be.

Rather, I hope that, unlike the other days of “significance,” it forever remains a time when we think about what we’ve lost, how much we still have and the people who die so that we might live just a little bit longer or a little bit better.

I know it will be for me.

Greg Heller-LaBelle is the Editor in Chief of The Pitt News, and yesterday was one of the most moving days of his life. He’d like to thank Shannon McLaughlin and Michelle Wydra for making him organize his thoughts long before he knew they’d become a column. He can be reached at editor@pittnews.com.