Eyewitness to 9/11: Behind the Lens | Original News Coverage

How wise is that reporter dude at 14:06: "We're not going any further because we are here to document the story, not to be the story."

I know when tragedy strikes, people get mad at others for taking pictures or video but they need to. It is history and evidence. Thank you to all the brave journalists, photographers, videographers who go into danger zones everyday risking their lives.

I was a human being before I was a cameraman. That’s humanity in it finest form ❤️

Just because “others have it worse” doesn’t mean your trauma isn’t real. That day was clearly devastatingly traumatic for everyone there and having to run for their lives. And they feel like they don’t have a right to be traumatized because of the victims and their families. Your pain and hurt matters too. Sending love to everyone and may they never be forgotten.

I was 10 years old, thousands of kilometers away in Budapest, Hungary. I was writing my homework at a nice lady’s house who used to look after me and help me study after school each day until my mom was done at work. She came to pick me up and she was completely in shock, she told us what she heard on the radio, so we switched on the TV. We saw the second plane hit live. As a 10 year old, even so far away, I was so scared that the world as I know it is over and I am not safe… it was a terrible feeling.

The broadcast tower engineer who stayed to maintain the signal until the end broke my heart. He likely knew he couldn’t have gotten down so he remained to ensure his colleagues could continue to report the event.

Seeing the clip of Jim Gartenberg (the man who spoke who was stuck on the 60+ floor) and I remember hearing his story on a different documentary, it was heartbreaking. He tried to offer comfort in his last moments of life to people watching who had family there too, even though he himself was panicking beyond comprehension, it breaks your heart all over again. This was very well produced and raw, honestly you have to have a thick skin to cover news since you never know what sort of things, events, tragedies you will have to report on some day, but this was such a horrible day it’s amazing that they worked so hard to document it even through the shock of it all. I mean, they’re human after all. I still can’t believe this was all real. A dark and tragic day those of us who were alive then to witness, even when not in NYC but just by the TV alone, will never forget.

I recall watching the people running from the explosion, a pause, and when the smoke clears, people running back towards the building to help others. These heroes, these everyday people, these stories make me remember to be proud to be American. Thank you.

Nothing can match the heroism of the first responders, but the fact is that many news reporters and journalists put their lives on the line that day to do a job that they were passionate about and that is integral to society. Thank you for your service. Fantastic documentary.

People never talk about the communications personnel that worked at the top of the tower for the various news stations. I believe they were literally on the 110th floor. I’m glad their guy was mentioned. R.I.P. to him and everyone!

N.J. Burkett stuck with me from that day, I remember watching him live hug that woman who started crying when talking about the jumpers. I was seriously moved, I had never seen a news reporter comfort someone live without it being a formal sit down interview.

The reporter standing so close to the building collapsing is still one of the creepiest things I've ever seen in my life. Those poor people who experienced it first hand has to have some form of PTSD. The only thing that legitimately scares me is Kevin Cosgrove's 9-11 phone conversation as the second building collapsed It's quite literally the most f*cked up I have ever listened to in my life.

I’ll never forget seeing the people who jumped because of the fire . It was live tv so it wasn’t censored. After the first few I found myself howling this primal scream , the horror of seeing those poor people jumping will stay with me forever . That’s what sticks in my mind the most . Knowing it had to be so bad for them to jump knowing they were going to die .

My grandmother knew exactly what it was after the first plane. She came and woke me (I was homeschooled at the time) and said "We're under attack." I go up and watched the coverage while she made breakfast and watched the second plane hit live. I was never into news before then... I was about 17. I grew up that day. I started paying attention.

The feeling of helplessness of waiting for those in need yet they never came. A good friend of mine was the former chief of the Allamuchy (NJ) fire department, and his unit was called up to cover for those sent into the city to assist. He told me how all they heard on the radios was "any update?" or "found anyone?" those first few days.

I was 35 at the time. My husband and i were at disneyworld. The whole situation was surreal. We had friends in las vegas at time too. The feeling we felt internally still stay with you to this day and will do for life. The workd changed forever. Our families were watching reports on uk news channels. Without these brave newscrews reporting, we would have never truly known the full stories. All the families at disney swan just hired cars and headed home. We were able to come home a week later and were on the first gatwick flight to uk. Was emotional landing and that feeling of getting home words cant describe 😢

The scale of 9/11 was so horrific not even the media could exaggerate it nor could they believe it. Sometimes I still can’t wrap my head around this day.

I thank all of yall for recording what happened because this was a time before cell phones with cameras, and it wasnt the norm to film things. Those of yall there that had cameras did your jobs, and i thank yall.

It still hurts all these years later. My husband and I were watching the terror unfold all the way in Arizona, so I am grateful for the members of the media for their dedication to ensuring the world saw what was happening. They helped bring our nation together as we all watched the heartbreaking loss and devastation. We all moured together.

22 years later and the tears were flowing within the first few minutes of the video. I hope I never live through an event this horrendous again.