Looking Back at the 9/11 Attacks in Pictures
Left 100%
Center 0%
Right 0%
3 left · 0 center · 0 right
What happened
On September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers affiliated with al-Qaeda seized four U.S. commercial airliners. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were flown into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, both of which later collapsed. American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers and crew attempted to retake the aircraft. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
BLINDSPOT.
Only left-leaning outlets are covering this story
— the other side's media is silent.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage is running an anniversary look-back in pictures and video. Right-leaning outlets had not covered this as of publication. Attack photos, a named al-Qaida leader, and a later cancer death appear in the Guardian gallery. People run from collapsing towers, a rescue helicopter appears at the Pentagon fire, and Marcy Borders stands coated in dust after the street filled with ash. Archival anchoring is paired on NBC News with illness segments, a clip on Saudi Arabia, and President Trump's Pentagon address. A reader of the silent side is missing that visual record and those later illness and official frames.
Left-leaning outlets split on what they put first. Distress images and the Borders case open the Guardian gallery. The Brokaw special leads NBC News, which also plays Pete Hegseth on the war on terror.
What official finding, if any, linked World Trade Center dust to the 2015 cancer death shown in the gallery?
Bottom line
A reader who only sees right-leaning media is getting no 9/11 picture anniversary, even as the Guardian republishes the dust-covered Marcy Borders and her later cancer death.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- The hijackers were terrorists loyal to the al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden
- The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people
- United Airlines Flight 175 hit the south tower at 9.03am
- President George W. Bush gathered information in a classroom at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida
- United Airlines Flight 93 was downed in Pennsylvania after a revolt by passengers
The Left View
The Guardian published a photo gallery of the attacks, including the second plane hitting the south tower, people fleeing collapsing buildings, dust-covered survivor Marcy Borders, an aerial view of lower Manhattan in smoke, and firefighters at the Pentagon; captions recap the Boston hijackings, the 17-minute gap between the tower strikes, Flight 77 and Flight 93, and the death toll. The New York Times ran a 25-year look-back. NBC News recirculated Tom Brokaw’s original special report and aired segments with journalists, Condoleezza Rice, first responders, victim relatives, and 25th-anniversary remarks by President Trump and Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.
Our Take (balanced)
This is a 25th-anniversary photo and video retrospective of a thoroughly documented historical event, not a thin or uncorroborated claim: named flights, locations, perpetrators, and the death toll are established by contemporaneous records, official investigations, and extensive visual evidence. The pieces recap known facts and personal accounts rather than advancing new allegations. No right-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for additional official commemorations, any newly released archives or images, and further reporting on 9/11-related illnesses among survivors and first responders.
3 sources
More stories
The week's bottom lines, in your inbox
One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.