Updated Sep. 10, 2024 at 5:30 p.m.*
By the time United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the second tower, news reporters and editors around the world knew they were facing the most monumental story of their lifetime. The Sep. 11 attacks forever changed the world, and put the powers of modern journalism, from real-time video coverage to deep news analysis (on deadline), to the test like never before.
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With events unfolding on that Tuesday morning in New York and Washington, newspapers around the world could go to print that evening with special editions for Sept. 12 that offered the proverbial "first draft of history" on their respective front pages. News magazines followed suit with tragically iconic covers.
TIME magazine's lead writer Nancy Gibbs
recently recalled the unique pressure of producing a special issue in 24 hours.
TIME front cover from September 14, 2001
"It was a test of speed as much as anything else," Gibbs recalled. "It was a complete all-hands. Normally we would have a formal system whereby people sent files into a central information management system; everyone just emailed me. I probably had a thousand emails. It was the writing equivalent of putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Everyone had a different piece of the puzzle."
In France, Le Monde's top editor Jean-Marie Colombani penned a front-page editorial echoing JFK at the Berlin Wall, which declared that in the face of such a heinous attack: Nous sommes tous américains. ("We are all Americans.")
Le Monde front page from September 13, 2001 - ©Le Monde
For a left-leaning, U.S.-skeptic French daily, it captured the spirit connecting the whole world that fateful day.
Below are images of front pages and magazine covers around the world that carries us back to that collective moment of horror turned to grief, newfound wells of courage mixed with a deep and sudden vulnerability:
U.S. - The New York Times
The New York Times - 12/09/2001
The Washington Post
The Washington Post - 12/09/2001
USA Today
USA Today - 09/12/2011
The San Francisco Examiner
San Francisco The Examiner - 09/12/2001
The Post-Crescent
The Post-Crescent - 09/12/2001
TIME Magazine
TIME - 09/14/2001
The New Yorker
The New Yorker - 09/24/2001
France - Le Monde
"America struck, the world terrified" Le Monde - 09/13/2001
Le Parisien
Le Parisien - 09/12/2001
Libération
Libération - 09/12/2001
Charlie Hebdo
09/19/2001
Canada - The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail - 09/12/2001
United Kingdom - The Guardian
The Guardian - 09/12/2001
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph - 09/12/2001
Spain - El País
El País - 09/12/2001
El Mundo
El Mundo - 09/12/2001
Italy - Il Mattino
Il Mattino - 09/12/2001
Sweden - Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet - 09/12/2001
Finland - Tucun Sanomat
Tucun Sanomat - 09/12/2001
Israel - Maariv
Maariv 9/12/2001
Turkey - Hürriyet
Hürriyet - 09/12/2001
UK, Pan-Arab - Al Hayat
Al Hayat - 09/12/2001
Lebanon - An Nahar
An Nahar - 09/12/2001
Japan - Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun - 09/12/2001
Korea - Chosun Ilbo
Chosun Ilbo - 09/12/2001
Argentina - Clarín
Clarín (special edition) - 09/11/2001
Germany - Die Welt
Die Welt - 09/12/2001
Germany - Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel - 09/15/2001
Bulgaria - 24 Chasa
24 Chasa - 09/12/2001
Brazil - Folha de São Paulo
Folha de São Paulo - 09/12/2001
Australia - The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald - 09/12/2001
*Originally published Sept. 9, 2021, this article was updated Sept. 10, 2024 enriched media.