Transcript
BOB GARFIELD: This is On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone, with a correction. Many of you wrote in to point out a factual error in my interview with the editor of The Wisconsin State Journal, which allows readers to help choose its front-page story. Dennis Getto was quick with the following correction. Quote, "Your transcript from last week reads that The Wisconsin State Journal is the largest newspaper in our state. It's not. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has more than double the circulation." He's right, of course, and he would know. Getto is the dining critic for The Journal Sentinel, which has a daily circulation of 260,000 compared to 90,000 for The Wisconsin State Journal. Sorry, Milwaukee. Now, for something completely different. For years, we've had a request on our website for listeners to send in notable media moments from their own lives. And we finally got one, from Melissa Mecca from Detroit, Michigan. Melissa, are you there?
MELISSA MECCA: Hi.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: So what's your media moment?
MELISSA MECCA: On Wednesday I was waiting for a flight out of Atlanta Hartsfield and, of course, I was watching the CNN Travel Network on the overhead, and the Flight 93 story came on.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: That's the story about how they played for the first time the black box recordings from Flight 93 during the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.
MELISSA MECCA: That's correct.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And what happened?
MELISSA MECCA: Well, the commentator got about two to three sentences into the story and then the screen went blank and the station identifier came up. And it was an awkward pause because it was long enough for all the passengers to sort of look around at each other and wonder what was happening. And then two short ads came on and then the story resumed as the commentator was wrapping it up, and then they moved on to the next story.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: So what did the other people in the airport think when they saw the screen go blank?
MELISSA MECCA: I thought it was brilliantly summarized by [CHUCKLES] my neighbor, who just blurted out, “did they think we forgot about 9/11 already?” And [LAUGHS] then she said, “have they even seen the line at security?”
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Do you think that it would have made you feel less safe if you'd heard it?
MELISSA MECCA: Oh, absolutely not. I think part of seeing that sort of thing on the air is the healing process, learning about it, getting the facts, and knowing it and moving past it. So I was sad on all levels that they had cut it.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: All right. Melissa, thank you so much.
MELISSA MECCA: Oh, you're welcome.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: That was Melissa Mecca with a media moment from Detroit, Michigan. Thanks for all your letters and media moments. Keep them coming to onthemedia@wnyc.org, and don't forget to tell us where you live and how to pronounce your name. [MUSIC UP AND UNDER]