Bastards.

When I think about boldness in the media, especially on today's date, one front page nudges itself to the front of my brain. The day after September 11, 2001, the San Francisco Examiner published the page pictured at left. I remember that day being a slew of news reports and articles, but I don't remember what they said or who said what. Every paper in the country had a 9/11-themed paper the next day, but the only one that stuck in my head was the full-color, full-page picture of the twin tower, exclaiming "BASTARDS!" Some argue that it was inappropriate, offensive, vulgar, but even at age eleven, I knew that this one page embodied everything that Americans were feeling. It was before anyone knew what happened; New York was still in chaos. We knew, however, that someone had caused such a disaster, and we were angry. I remember reading that the publisher or editor of the Examiner said he wasn't trying to make a big statement; he said that "those bastards" was all he could think about that day, and so it became the headline.

The Examiner's front page was what people needed. September 11 was day one in the five stages of grief: denial. Day two was anger. The Examiner showed anger, where other newspapers and stations jumped straight to depression. I'm sure many people disagree with me, but I remember when I was eleven years old, long before I even thought about being a journalist; I looked at that page and agreed. It said what I was thinking, what many were thinking, and it did it in a way that was strong. It said "Get ready, America. We're going to fight back."

A lot has happened in the past seven years, and this entry was really a look back into the mind of my adolescent self. Things have changed; obviously we know more now that we did then, but I will always remember that front page and what it meant to me. There is so much more I could write right now, but I'll end it here.

Photo courtesy of www.september11news.com.