Last year I saw some radio person on Facebook refer to 9/11, and some listener/”friend” jumped on her because “It’s old news. Move on.” They were promptly ripped apart by about a hundred people for being (lots of bad words).
You know what would be appropriate for your station, in your market, with your listeners, so scroll through and see what seems like a good fit. But to NOT at least reference the fact that it’s the 25th anniversary of 9/11 would be kind of sad. How and what you do to acknowledge it is based on where you are, your format, your listeners, and honestly, what you can pull off.
Radio was the first social media. It was where people gathered when things happened. They’d call and share and listen.
Not to be all Zen about the day, but everyone was somewhere.
I’d leisurely gotten up, made some breakfast, sat down, booted up my computer, and saw that I had a voicemail light flashing on my phone. It was Russ Allen who’d left a quick, “Man, what a weird morning. Planes flying into buildings…” I thought, “Uh oh,” and jumped into work mode. Somewhere in a box is a copy of the e-blast that went out at 10:20 CST to the clients. By then, all the morning shows had stayed on the air, and we were all grappling with it collectively.
So use your social media for more than just some corporate-dictated autopost.
In the meantime, in no particular order…
Bell Tolling
The exact total of casualties from 9/11 fluctuates. The best guess is 3213. I would go to a park, get a bell, hang it from a beam or tree limb, and let listeners come by and each ring it once, until you get 3213. In theory, that should take about 54 minutes. WPXY in Rochester had a firebell in ‘03 at a local fire station. People could drive up, lean out their window, and ring it. It was great because it allowed their listeners to participate. Which is why….
Cops and Firefighters
9/11/26 is a chance to honor your local heroes. I think that people forget that these people put their lives on the line every day. Bring them lunch. Have them on the air. Do a giant card of thanks for all of their hard work. Foxy in Fayetteville brought lunch to fire stations and police stations in ’09.
The Human Flag
Was HUGE with the stations that have done it. You can never go wrong with involving the audience in a salute to the troops. KDWB did one in 72 hours.
Empty Shoes
The Wave in Charleston did this with candles and 3245 empty shoes in a park. VERY dramatic. WIOG in Saginaw called theirs The Lost Soles.
Survivor Interviews
One of my best friends actually went and made something of himself and became a lawyer at some massive firm in New York. Everyone in that market knows someone who knows someone…you get the idea. Karl got a guy from Ireland who he knows, who escaped WTC 1 as a plane passed over his head. John and Tammy at KSON in San Diego found a listener who’d been five months pregnant when she escaped the towers.
Luminaries
Wild in San Francisco went out to the beach and set up 3213 bags with lit candles in them. How big was this? It was only supposed to go for one night, but for a couple of days people kept coming back and replacing the candles on their own.
Name Reading
Go out to a central location, set up a mic, and have your listeners do it. That Wikipedia website has a moderately complete list. Z-90 in San Diego did this in ‘02 at the Sports Arena. Incorporated the Marine Corps band, a flyover by jets. Maybe the biggest thing that was done in the industry that year.
Re-Naming
Is there a local angle? Was someone from your market killed in the attacks? A guy from one of the suburbs of Minneapolis is recognized as the person who started the rebellion on Flight 93. They renamed a post office in his honor. How about a park? Or even bigger, a stretch of highway? So few radio stations ever leave a legacy. Here is an opportunity that is just waiting to happen.
Vets
This is also a chance to honor the local servicemen and women who responded to the call of duty following the attacks. Get some on the air, recognize their efforts and sacrifices. Also recognize the people who are overseas right now. Brother Wease at WCMF in Rochester did his show at a Veterans Hospital that was scheduled to be shut down by budget cuts.
Flags
Lead the charge to get EVERYBODY in town to fly a flag on the 11th.
Lots Of Flags
One of the stations did The Healing Field, where they filled a lawn at a courthouse with 3213 flags. All on six-foot poles. So to wander through them gave you a sense of being lost in a forest. Huge. Jamz in Birmingham filled a park with 3213 tiny flags that were stuck in the ground. They also had a giant red, white, and blue wreath that people could come and drop a flower on. They delivered all of these to patients in hospitals.
Hill Of Flags
I was in LA with Mo from KZIA on 9/11/09, and we drove past the Pepperdine campus, where the whole hillside sweeping down to PCH was covered in flags on poles. The side of the road was a parking lot as people jumped out to take pics.
Moment Of Silence
Lead the charge for a moment of silence in your market. Wherever and whatever people are doing at 8:46 am, have them stop and pause to remember those who lost their lives.
Candles
Just about every station did a candlelight vigil. This might be the time to do it with 3245 people in a stadium. With the lights out. Or use Xyalume light sticks. Might look even cooler on TV.
Charities
Following 9/11, Americans opened up their veins and pocketbooks and gave generously to the NYC relief effort. Unfortunately, this impacted 98% of national charities and organizations that aren’t huge groups like the United Way and Red Cross. Find 10 or 12 worthy local community charities in your market that are struggling, and starting at 8:46 am, do a 24-hour event to raise funds for them.
The Spirit Of Volunteering
That was something that happened after the attacks. People helped people. Anyway they could. Power 96 in Miami, KDWB in Minneapolis, and KKMG in Colorado Springs all had lists of local agencies needing volunteers on their station websites.
Scrolling Names
Talk about impactful. Power in Miami had a continually scrolling list of the names of the victims on their site in 2010. An amazing visual.
Headlights
Encourage people to drive with their headlights on all day on the 11th.
White Ribbons
Encourage everyone to wear them on their arms and/or tie them to their car antennas on the 11th.
A Card For The Troops
V-103 in Atlanta had a giant card that people came and signed, and this was shipped over to a unit in the Middle East. People could also drop off care packages of necessities that were then forwarded to servicemen and women.
Imaging
Re-Doing Your Website
Z-100 in Portland did something great. They replaced the website with a giant waving flag. And something like “In Memory Of The Lost.” Simple. But very impactful. Any time you mess with your website, it gets people’s attention.
