Like workplaces all over the country, Daily American Republic staffers were glued to the TV as news of attacks on the World Trade Center hit the airwaves. The difference? The staff still needed to put out a newspaper for the day.
When American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York around 7:45 a.m. Missouri time, the DAR edition for Sept. 11, 2001, hadn’t hit the presses yet. Staff members were just getting to work or focused on putting out that day’s paper.
When news of the event started spreading, however, things paused.
Then-Editor Stan Berry turned on the newsroom TV and staff stood together watching the events unfold.
“After we all started realizing what was going on, we’re all just staring at the TV and trying to get our work done,” former DAR designer Bridget Curnutt said. “It wasn’t too long and you’re starting to hear all these rumors about gas and a gas shortage.”
Associate editor, then photographer, Paul Davis said he came into the office that morning to find people congregated around the TV.
“We kind of all watched it and saw what was going on, that was only after the first plane hit,” he said. “They were speculating it was probably an accident or something and I’m like ‘how do you hit a building like that on accident?’ It was just weird.”
When the second plane hit, live on TV, people started to panic, Davis said
“People start hearing about it being an airplane, you’re actually starting to see,” Curnutt said. “It felt surreal, like everybody was feeling, I’m sure. You can’t believe it, you don’t want to believe it, but it was numb, it was almost nothing.”
“I remember I had to go down to maybe one of the churches to take a photo,” Davis said. “I just rushed through that as quickly as I could to get back here to be able to follow what was going on.”
Front page headlines became ones of tragedy, providing what information was available at that point about the attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon building in Washington D.C.
“America Attacked”
“Plane hits Pentagon, Trade Center collapses”
“Direct hit on Pentagon; Nation’s aircraft grounded”
“Missouri government on alert.”
Staff writer Barbara Horton, who served as associate editor and director of satellite operations at the time, said staff leadership needed to step away. After the paper got out, they left the office for lunch, talking and clearing their heads, before the real work of local journalism started: how will this affect Poplar Bluff, Southeast Missouri and Northern Arkansas?
“We wondered who in our community, in our region, this was touching in a personal manner,” she said. “Not just like it was touching us, but whose brother, sister, aunt, uncle, mom, dad … We went over how we were going to start looking for stories and what we were going to do. We got a hold of ourselves and then went back and started talking.”
The early 2000s were a different time in journalism, before the internet became popular. As soon as staff started calling people, community members began reaching out, Horton said.
“People started calling and we started calling,” she said.
Stories over the next couple days talked of packed gas stations, somber classrooms, the National Guard preparing to offer aid, the airport closing, Poplar Bluff High School ROTC students hanging flags around town, a parade and packed blood drives.
“I can remember all the different ways that you could tie it in and bring it local,” Curnutt said. “How people are doing, how it’s affecting them. I can remember assignments going out … it was really busy, almost like it happened right there … it was almost solemn too because I think we were just all in so much shock.”
“We started trying to share that with our readers to tell those stories. I can’t remember exactly who it was or where it was, but I believe it was across the state line there was a family that had a family member, and there were others I mean,” Horton said. “I’ve always said if something happens in the United States or in the world, we could probably find a political connection, or a Southeast Missouri, Northeast Arkansas connection.”
In that Friday’s paper, the back page was filled with an American flag, encouraging people to hang it in their windows as a way to show patriotism as the War on Terror marched closer.
“I think everybody’s patriotism just got super fierce,” Curnutt said. “I can still feel the chills about how I felt at the time … Almost everybody was like ‘How dare you do that to us?’ I just remember the patriotism was giving me chills. It still gives me chills.”