For local news organizations, it was a week of canceled vacations, 18-hour days, and blown budgets. But no one is complaining. The Boston media, led by the city’s two daily newspapers, have responded to the biggest news story in decades with some extraordinary journalism.

The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald have published page after page of coverage from Boston, New York, Washington, Florida (another investigative scene), and, especially in the case of the Globe, around the world. " I think they’ve done a bang-up job, I really do, " says Boston University journalism professor Mike Berlin. " I’ve never been so impressed with the Herald, and the Globe has been fantastic. The Globe is a national paper right now; it has national stature. "

Such a pressurized debut is déjà vu for the Globe’s new editor, Marty Baron: he began his previous job, as executive editor of the Miami Herald, just as the Elián González saga was getting under way. The depth and breadth of the Globe’s coverage have been nothing short of astounding. In particular, Kevin Cullen’s investigative work, Mitch Zuckoff’s narrative reconstruction in Sunday’s paper, and Glen Johnson’s fear-inducing article this past Tuesday on still-unregulated corporate jets stand out, as do Indira Lakshmanan’s dispatches from Pakistan. On Wednesday came another front-page exclusive: a report by Stephen Kurkjian and John Ellement on an investigation by federal authorities into the activities of a former Boston cab driver who may have ties to Osama bin Laden.

Asked whether his newcomer status has been an impediment, Baron replies: " I’ve been here seven weeks. I’m a veteran already. " More seriously, he says, " People have just worked very hard. People have been working 16, 17, 18 hours a day for days on end. It was important that we do a great job here, and I think we have. This is a tragic moment, but it’s also a huge story. " Adds managing editor Greg Moore: " Nobody, not a single person, has come to me to say anything about hours, asking for overtime, any of that stuff. People understand the gravity of this. "

The Herald, with a considerably smaller staff, hasn’t been able to offer coverage as comprehensive as the Globe’s, but it’s published enormous daily packages and broken some important stories nevertheless. Exhibit A: a piece the day after the bombing reporting that " at least five Arab men " had been identified as suspects. Exhibit B: a page-one exclusive on Tuesday of this week reporting on federal officials’ investigation of the bin Laden family’s activities in Boston. Both stories were multiple-reporter efforts. The Herald also published a series of striking " wraparounds " — huge color photos of such scenes as a flag hanging from the bombed-out Pentagon, grieving firefighters, and George W. Bush speaking at ground zero in Manhattan.

" We are stretched to the max. We are absolutely stretched to the limit, " says managing editor Andrew Gully. " If I could put a shameless plug in for the employees, it has been a phenomenal response from the top to the bottom of this newspaper. I’m proud of the whole thing, to be honest with you. "

This hasn’t come without cost. Much advertising has been canceled (although at least the papers, unlike TV stations and networks, didn’t have to run commercial-free for days on end). Both papers published scores more ad-free pages than usual over the past week — 63 in the Globe, and about 150 in the Herald. But readers have responded: Gully and Globe spokesman Rick Gulla say the Herald and the Globe each published more than 400,000 more papers than usual during the first week.

On the local broadcasting scene, WHDH-TV (Channel 7) and WFXT-TV (Channel 25) ran with live coverage for hours on end, with Channel 25 also switching over to the Fox News Channel for stretches — a real service for those of us who can’t get it on cable.

WBZ-TV (Channel 4) put its new " duopoly " with sister station WSBK-TV (Channel 38) to the test on Monday, broadcasting services for pilot John Ogonowski on 4 while carrying a Washington news conference on 38.

New England Cable News went with continuous live coverage until Friday morning, and didn’t run its first commercial until Saturday during the 6 p.m. news, says assistant news director Tom Melville — who ended up doing a few overnight stints at the anchor desk himself.

At WCVB-TV (Channel 5), David Boeri reported on early developments involving a car that may have been used by some of the suspects. At WLVI-TV (Channel 56), news director Greg Caputo helped put together a network of Tribune-owned stations to coordinate national coverage — with his own newsroom handling the Boston end of the story. (In perhaps the week’s one sour note, the station also apologized to viewers for what were reportedly some inappropriately jovial anchor-desk antics by Jeff Barnd. Caputo declined to comment.) WBUR Radio (90.9 FM) produced 23 hours of special local programming on the terrorist attacks, says news director Sam Fleming.

All in all, it was a week of heartbreak, exhilaration, and stress. Channel 4 news director Peter Brown says some of his troops saw things so disturbing that he’s brought in a counselor, although he’s quick to add: " We deserve no sympathy here, and that’s not what I’m trying to say. It’s our job to cover it, and everybody here has stepped up to the plate. "

Says Channel 5 news director Coleen Marren, echoing editors and news directors across the city: " It was a very, very difficult week for everyone, but we came together. I had to chase people out of the building and make them go home. That’s the level of commitment we have here. "

For more Phoenix coverage on the terrorist attacks, click here.

Issue Date: September 20 - 27, 2001