A Nation Challenged: On the morning of September 11, The New York Times mobilized at home and abroad on a scale not seen since World War II. Virtually instantly, reporters and photographers headed for ground zero, for the border of Afghanistan and to crucial locations throughout Europe, the Middle East and across America. But the scope and significance of the event called for a new way of organizing the many related stories, and one week later, The Times introduced A Nation Challenged; it was the fastest launch of a daily news section in the paper's history. Uninterrupted by advertising, the section was tailored to convey the historic nature of unfolding developments. It brought together the work of hundreds of journalists, covering everything from the tribal politics of Afghanistan to how anthrax was spread through the mails. And every day the section carried a page or more of profiles of those who had died or were missing in the attack. These Portraits of Grief became a powerful link between the original tragedy and the continuing coverage, a way to see past the numbing numbers to the real lives that were shattered. A Nation Challenged was the result of The Times's daily effort to do justice to the biggest news story of our generation.
2002 The New York Times
The New York Times / The New York Times