September 11th Events (NHK News) (Japan)

The dawn of the 21st century was marked by a shocking and infamous event. At 10:03 p.m. (Japan Time) on September 11, 2001 the news program NHK News 10 broadcast live footage of the moment when a second plane hi-jacked that day by terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. The program continued with live coverage of the Pentagon in flames and horrendous images of the World Trade Center collapsing. Through television, people around the world witnessed the worst act of terrorism in history.

For nearly 10 days after the first report of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NHK presented related news and information around the clock. On the day itself, some Japanese survivors were unaware that they were inside a burning building until their families in Japan telephoned them after watching the NHK news. Later, Japanese expatriates and Japanese visitors to the United States were able to receive a constant stream of accurate information in Japanese by watching NHK's national news programs broadcast simultaneously on NHK WORLD, NHK's international service.
Subsequent events, including the war on Afghanistan's Taliban regime, were also covered live making use of cell phones and mobile satellite communication technology, including videophones. This resulted in a sharp increase in the audience share for NHK news.
Right from the start, NHK sought to air reports in a calm and objective manner, covering developments from the perspective of terrorism vs. civilization, rather than Islam vs. the West. Fresh coverage was supported by many programs designed to deliver sober commentary and in-depth analysis. Within a month, four editions of NHK Special and 16 editions of Today’s Close- up had been devoted to the issue, as had programs on Educational TV. This comprehensive approach resulted in far-reaching, multi-faceted coverage of 9/11 and its aftermath.