LOCAL media reacted swiftly to last week’s terrorist attacks in the US with normal programming interrupted on both radio and television to relay the first horrifying details.
ABC broke the news on television, attracting a peak audience average of 223,000 people at 10pm.
As the commercial television stations deserted their normal programming to follow the events unfolding in New York and Washington, Channel Seven drew 88,000 viewers, Channel Nine 81,000 and Channel Ten. 70,000
The West Australian published a free 24-page afternoon edition, the first special daytime edition since news of the 1991 Gulf War broke.
Even some of the local commercial radio stations picked up on the gravity of the event, interrupting their usually light-hearted breakfast programs to relay up-to-date information.
And ABC local radio was suspended from the time of the first news reports on Tuesday evening.
The media also was called on to play a strong anti-racist advocacy role.
