At 1 a.m. on Wednesday — after a 15-hour day – the veteran Newsday picture editor is numb.
After all, this Tuesday was supposed to be a routine primary election day in Queens, following the pattern of a daily coverage plan in place the night before. “We had six or so photographers planned to be in various places,” under the leadership of Chris Hatch the morning assignment photo editor, recalled Jeff Schamberry.
An act of terrorism at the World Trade Center and an 8:50 a.m. telephone call changed the course of Schamberry’s day, and of America’s history. “It was the normal morning check-in call, and Chris said turn on the TV.” Even then Jeff was not alarmed, as Newsday had done such a comprehensive job of covering a terrorist attack on the very same building seven years ago that it was given a Pulitzer Prize.
And Newsday had a plan for covering any disaster.
Terror was very different this time around.
“Our disaster plan is tested and reliable,” says Schamberry, “but this time we were up against an island of terror. This time around if you were not inside of the perimeter within one hour, all bets were off. We wanted to and tried our best to get a staffer into ground zero, but cell phone communication was spotty and [authorities] restricted our movement. They locked the city down. I had trouble getting into our own office here in Queens.”
Newsday and many other publications and photographic wire services relied on stringers, amateurs, and tourists with good camera equipment to augment coverage. The most dramatic early images were high-resolution video frame grabs from NBC and ABC television affiliates.
“Today, there were people that I didn’t even know their names calling us and sharing their images. This tragedy was a freelancer’s feast,” Schamberry said.
Coverage of the second attack on the World Trade Center was more surreal than in 1993. “We were shocked in the newsroom,” Schamberry said. “People were really trying to be professional and get the their jobs done, but the emotion and enormity was troubling, plus we had major difficulty getting people to ground zero and had to turn to the wires.” The Associated Press did well, getting a couple of staffers into the perimeter, but they too posted many images on their photostream system that were shot by freelancers.
CNN aired several video clips obtained from freelancers and AP pulled numerous frame grabs — using new technology and software like Salient Stills video — to print digital capture software which is used at Newsday, The New York Times, and The Tampa Tribune.
For the first two hours of coverage, the Associated Press moved about 12 frame grabs courtesy of NBC and ABC among the 943 digital files that they moved by midnight. “They practiced good restraint, the images were better edited and showed good content this particular time, but our plan is to get our own staff into position,” said Schamberry. “Our people did their best, but this one was not our best effort— we could not get the access.”
By the end of this long and challenging day, as Schamberry prepared to head home, the similarities were clear. “The sheer magnitude of the event is the same. You put all your energy into getting into doing your best and reporting the story.”
As Schamberry’s long day ended, he had a new plan: “I am going home because they have shut things down and we can’t take pictures. Tomorrow we go after them again.
“This story is only beginning.”
