As
the
9/11
terrorist
attack
approaches
its
20th
anniversary,
a
Baldwin
Wallace
University
professor
and
recent
graduate
are
studying
how
two
decades
of
media
coverage
have
changed,
along
with
Americans'
perception
of
the
event.
Eyewitness
account
versus
media
frames
Back
in
2001,
Dr.
Brian
Monahan,
a
BW
professor
of
sociology
and
criminal
justice,
was
on
the
ground
in
NYC
in
the
early
aftermath
of
9/11
as
a
member
of
a
field
research
team
tasked
with
observing
and
recording
the
unfolding
events.
As
he
noted
discrepancies
between
his
first-hand
observations
and
media
framing
of
the
event
(the
"first
draft
of
history"),
questions
about
media
coverage,
cultural
trauma
and
societal
change
emerged
and
became
a
focus
of
his
ongoing
research.
Monahan's
studies
of
the
resulting
symbolism
and
effect
on
the
American
psyche
led
him
to
author
"The
Shock
of
the
News:
Media
Coverage
and
the
Making
of
9/11"
(NYU
Press,
2010),
and
he
has
continued
to
build
on
that
research
ever
since.
BW
faculty-student
collaboration
Monahan
and
spring
BW
graduate
Clara
Mey
'21
are
currently
completing
a
research
project
that
examines
20
years
of
anniversary
coverage
to
see
how
media
frames
have
shifted
or
remained
stable
over
time.
Monahan
initiated
the
research
collaboration
after
Mey
expressed
an
interest
in
his
9/11
research
and
a
desire
to
gain
research
experience
of
her
own.
"I
took
an
interest
in
this
topic
after
being
exposed
to
media
studies
research
in
one
of
Dr.
Monahan's
courses
and
reading
his
book
on
my
own,"
Mey
explains.
"In
the
fall
of
2020,
I
worked
through
an
independent
study
course
to
carry
out
data
collection
and
analysis
to
determine
how
9/11
media
frames
and
resulting
public
perceptions
have
changed
and
evolved
over
the
course
of
two
decades."
Monahan
added,
"Our
experience
highlights
the
value
of
BW
undergraduate
research
opportunities.
Through
independent
study,
Faculty-Student
Collaboration
(FSC),
Summer
Scholars
and
other
programs,
students
transform
classroom
lessons
into
meaningful
scholarship
that
aids
in
their
career
development."
In
fact,
Mey
is
beginning
her
first
year
in
the
sociology
doctoral
program
at
the
University
of
Delaware
this
fall.
Two
decades
of
changing
perceptions
The
research
paper
authored
by
Mey
and
Monahan
was
presented
at
a
national
academic
conference
earlier
this
month
(August
2021),
and
a
research
manuscript
is
being
prepped
for
journal
submission
after
incorporating
the
20th-anniversary
data.
Preliminary
findings
include
waning
coverage
since
the
10th
anniversary
of
9/11,
which
accounted
for
just
17%
of
all
articles
in
the
sample
collected
from
The
New
York
Times.
The
research
also
noted
changing
emotional
connections
to
the
attacks
over
time
among
reporters
and
audiences.
"Anniversary
coverage
analysis
also
showed
that
stories
about
the
wars
in
the
Middle
East
eventually
become
decoupled
from
9/11,"
Monahan
explains.
"In
other
words,
9/11
and
the
wars
began
as
intertwined
issues
with
deep
symbolic
ties
but
eventually
came
to
be
covered
separately
from
one
another."
Monahan's
work
and
expertise
have
been
featured
in
many
9/11
stories
throughout
the
years,
including
USA
TODAY,
CNN.com,
The
Associated
Press,
HealthDay,
SpectrumNews1
and
The
Washington
Post.
