by LISA TANGER

For many Americans, the horror of Sept. 11, 2001, cannot be escaped through distance or time. Los Angeles resident Jordan Wallens is no exception. On his way to Starbucks for a Sunday morning caffeine boost, Wallens answers his cell phone to find it is a reporter inquiring about his brother.

Photo courtesy of Wallens family
Matthew Blake Wallens worked in
the North Tower of the
World Trade Center.

Wallens’ brother, Blake, was one of 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, according to Cantor Fitzgerald records. Blake was a 31-year-old senior vice president of equities trading, earning himself an office on the 106th floor of the North Tower. Wallens explains his older brother was in the first tower to be struck in the attacks, but the second to fall. You might assume Wallens would be one of many Americans who cannot bear to see photos of the Twin Towers under attack on newspaper front pages. But if you do, you are wrong.

“I’m probably more freshly intrigued by it all still than most people. A lot of people by now don’t want to look at the images, and probably, the reasonable way to feel when you see the images is horrified, still really shook up and disturbed by it all. While, obviously, I’m all of those things, at the same time, I can’t look away,” Wallens said.

Each year, newspapers grapple with how to cover the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in a meaningful, professional and newsworthy manner. USA TODAY carries the additional burden of covering the anniversary for a general audience. It is the largest-circulation newspaper, with more than 5.2 million daily readers, according to a spring 2006 MRI study.

USA TODAY Page One Editor David Colton helps decide each year how to cover the anniversary. One of the first pieces of memorabilia guests notice when entering Colton’s office is a framed newspaper front page. It shows a large photo of the post-Sept. 11 Manhattan skyline at night, with two large beams of light emanating from Ground Zero. While Colton is a longtime journalism executive, his humanity quickly seeps out as he talks about the photo.

“It was almost like exorcising the ghost of it; 9/11 was so incredibly shattering to everyone,” Colton said quietly, choking up a bit. “Every year, we commemorate 9/11 on the front page as if it’s a tragic holiday.”

Colton pointed out there are at least two sides to the debate over how to handle images of the attacks. One argument asserts photographs from Sept. 11 are too painful to see, particularly for those who may have been directly affected by the loss of a loved one. The flip side is that the most jarring photographs should be published every year in order to prevent the world from forgetting the horror of that day.

Readers might be surprised to find only one out of USA TODAY’s six anniversary issues printed so far included a front page image of the hijacked airplane approaching the Twin Towers, an image described as “iconic” by USA TODAY Photo Editor Kate Patterson. Colton said the editors discussed using the airplane photo as lead art on the fifth anniversary, but ultimately decided against it.

“It felt appropriate to run the photo of not the explosion, but of the plane approaching the building, which in a lot of ways is even creepier,” Colton said. He characterized the discussion as unsettling, but said the paper ran the photo because the main article was about fear and anxiety, and the photo fully illustrated that point.

“It’s never for shock value, at USA TODAY, for sure. We are very fussy about pictures,” Colton said. “At least as the front page is concerned, we are still a family newspaper and there’s no reason to leave the person no choice but to see a photo like that.”

Colton said USA TODAY has not made a definitive editorial decision on how the anniversary will be covered in the future.

“Time is so segmented. It’s like the 100th anniversary of the entire 20th century from now on. They’re usually pretty empty, anniversary stories … and you really have to work hard to make it more than just an oral history,” Colton said.

He said it would be “impossible” for USA TODAY not to examine the politics of Sept. 11 next year, given the fact that the anniversary will fall roughly two months before the 2008 presidential election.

Back in California, Jordan Wallens finds some small sense of comfort in the fact that newspapers have continued to cover the anniversary.

“The fact that it’s never forgotten and seems acutely on people’s minds once a year, I’ll admit, in some sordid way, that action makes me feel a little better. Because it meant so much to us, and I know others agree,” Wallens said.

Whether newspapers choose to remember the horror or not, families affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will continue to grieve and strive to heal. The Wallens family plans to be gathered together around a dinner table next Sept. 11, raising a toast to Blake.

“We probably spend 360 days a year feeling somber and melancholy about it. We try to take a few and celebrate his memory,” Wallens said.