On September 11, 2001 and the days following it, I grappled with how to split the difference between watching, reading, and listening to news coverage of that day's atrocities. At first, to grasp the severity of the attacks, it felt necessary to watch footage of them. After seeing the same or similar footage multiple times, however, I thought, "It's really best to turn my attention to radio and newspaper coverage now."
I still think that was the right call. When you see the horrifying footage of the attacks and their aftermath, it's too easy to be shocked and not absorb all of the information about them. Listening to radio coverage and reading articles forces one to process the information without the distressing visuals.
