This September marks the ten-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. In observance and reflection of this anniversary, the Ashland University Journalism and Digital

Media department has been putting together a documentary about the event.

Interim chair of the JDM department, Tim McCarty explained where the idea for the 9/11 documentary came from.

“In December of 2010, the JDM faculty got together and kicked around ideas for a documentary we could produce,” McCarty said.

“Someone said 9/11 and we all just stopped. It’s the perfect foundation for a documentary. Given that it’s the tenth anniversary, the idea jumped to the head of the line.”

McCarty said that being respectful, covering the anniversary and reflecting on how the world is different were their primary goals.

“Our reflection caused us to all think about what we were doing,” McCarty said. “We realized that because of the nature of the university our documentary could have diverse perspectives.”

McCarty said that after they decided the topic, they set out to gather experts from various fields to discuss the events of 9/11. McCarty

explained that the crew brought in various staff members to interview and obtain their professional perspectives.

The JDM department asked faculty members such as Dr. John Moser, for a history perspective, Dr. Peter Schram, for a political perspective and Professor Michael Barrett, who offered a criminal justice perspective.

“We wanted diverse points-of-view and the university gave us access to all these perspectives,” McCarty said. “It was really exciting.”

One of the most interesting perspectives found during research for the documentary was the then producer on Ashland University’s tv

station, TV2, Jess Baker.

McCarty explained that Baker and another TV2 employee, Laura Allenbaugh, got in a van after hearing the news on September 11 and drove to Shanksville, Pennsylvania where flight United 93 crashed. They shot footage there and then drove to New York City and even got onto one of the buses taking press to ground zero.

They eventually made their way to Jersey City where they shot footage of smoke rising from ground zero.

“It took a lot of courage and determination to do what those two girls did,” Gretchen Dworznik, a JDM professor said. “I am so glad

that she was able to come here to be interviewed. McCarty explained why Baker’s story is just the kind of story they wanted to tell.

“They didn’t run away from the story, they ran to the story; the essence of New York,” McCarty said. “We got really lucky because we

found out that Jess would be in town and she came in and did an interview for us.”

McCarty and the JDM department spent the summer shooting interviews with faculty as well as students’ personal accounts. JDM and political science double major, Hilary Neal, hosted the documentary.

“I was initially very nervous because I didn’t know if I would be able to get the truly grieved emotion across to the audience,” Neal said. “I was hosting a documentary about a sad event that touched us all, and I had never done that before. It was a great experience and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of the project.”

The JDM department hopes that the return of JDM students will help the speed of the editing process. The department hopes the documentary will be completed by the first week of September, so it can be ready to air on Armstrong cable and at a small premier on campus.

” I thought it was a great way to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11, while putting a unique spin on it,” Dworznik said. “By doing this we are able to show off some of the really great work this department can do, while giving our students the experience of working on a long-form program. I think people will be really impressed when they see it.”

The premier of “9/11 Remembered” will be at 7 p.m., September 7 in Hugo Young Theatre and is open to everyone, including the general public.