A 747 airplane crashing into one of the World Trade Center Towers remains an indelible image for Mortimer Zuckerman.

The event was the worst terrorist attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor, he said.

But unlike Pearl Harbor, Zuckerman said the American public saw the heinous tragedy unfold right before its eyes. They saw two proud symbols crumble to the ground and more than 3,000 lives perish. They saw it because of television, he said.

‘This was live,’ said Zuckerman, publisher of the U.S. News & World Report and editor in chief of the New York Daily News. ‘This wasn’t something we were there for, but we were almost there for. And so we just have to, as a society and as a government, cope.’

Zuckerman addressed a crowd of about 75 people Wednesday afternoon in Room 254 in building II of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. His one-hour lecture titled, ‘A View of the World and the Media’s Role,’ focused mainly on the medium of television and its impact in today’s world of terrorism and uncertainty after Sept. 11.

Along with showering his audience with anecdotes and jokes that kept an upbeat and easy-going mood, he reeled off some statistics, which underlined his main points and highlighted his sense of humor.

‘The readership of U.S. News went up 72 percent, the viewing audience of CNN went up 69 percent and the readership of Time went up about 52 percent and about 43 percent for Newsweek,’ Zuckerman said. ‘I just thought you all would like to know these figures.’

U.S. News & World Report gained about another nine million readers in addition to its 12 million readership, Zuckerman said. But he also admitted that should the next major event happen in the United States, television screens will break the news faster than the print industry.

Both mediums share the difficulty of covering the war in Afghanistan, which Zuckerman described as ‘in the shadows’ because decisions made by President George W. Bush and political leaders are based on intelligence and knowledge that the government is not willing to share for reasons that include security.

Zuckerman did not provide examples of how the U.S. News & World Report or the New York Daily News is covering the war in Afghanistan. But he said he recognizes a growing tension between the media and government.

‘(The media) sees themselves as an adversarial role to the government,’ Zuckerman said. ‘The problem is that (the government) see the media as ill-informed adversaries and sometimes they are and not deliberately.’

He added that the media are not participants but observers.

‘As observers, you don’t really know how the world works, as well or as much,’ Zuckerman said. ‘But the media knows one thing, they know how the world ought to work.’

Zuckerman lauded President Bush and his transformation as a president, citing how Bush has made his presidency in the one area that critics thought he was least prepared. Bush’s moral stance, coupled with his conviction and passion to go after the terrorists and countries associated with them, contributes to his overwhelming support, Zuckerman said.

Junior political science and broadcast journalism major Jason Volack found it enlightening that Zuckerman oriented his speech toward broadcasting and not how his publications were affected in print.

‘He’s a major player in the print world,’ Volack said. ‘I thought he would give more insights about how his publications are specifically covering the events that are going on. But he gave me a whole lot of information that I’ve already known since September 11.

‘He has to emphasize what his strengths are, being a third major publication in New York City. He has a voice in the New York City newspapers,’ Volack added.

Heather Carman, a senior in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, attended the lecture to get a better understanding of management in public relations in the future. She found Zuckerman’s main points about the changing role of media post-Sept. 11 helpful.

‘His anecdotes were definitely helpful and it made the speech less dry,’ she said. ‘He seemed very candid in what he was saying. ‘

Zuckerman concluded his lecture describing the image of Israeli soldiers dressed in uniform, equipped with guns, tanks and helicopters. By contrast, the Palestinian soldiers had no uniforms at all. Some of their soldiers are children and teenagers brought to the front line.

‘The camera shows that the Palestinians are underdogs,’ Zuckerman said. ‘And there is a message that comes with television and the pictures are important but it may not always show the whole truth.’

Published on March 6, 2002 at 12:00 pm