New From TJFR Press: "September Twelfth" Reveals the Untold Story of How The Wall Street Journal Responded When Its Newsroom Was Destroyed by Fallout From the World Trade Center

DENVER, Sept. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 11, 2001, The Wall Street Journal sustained a near-fatal blow when its main global newsroom — located just across the street from the World Trade Center — was destroyed by fallout from the collapse of the Twin Towers.

"September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story," the new book by prize-winning journalist Dean Rotbart, uncovers the hour-by-hour tribulations of the Journal's staff, from the moments before the first hijacked plane hit the North Tower until the final edition of the September 12th newspaper was loaded onto delivery trucks just before midnight.

The traumatized men and women of the Journal and its parent company, Dow Jones & Company — business and financial journalists, not war correspondents — overcame their anguish and dislocation to cover the biggest news story of their lifetimes.

On 9/11, chaos reigned. Phone service was intermittent at best. For hours, it seemed certain that the paper's dynamic managing editor, Paul E. Steiger, had been killed or seriously injured.

Journal reporters and editors were strewn throughout the five boroughs, New Jersey, and Connecticut, like shards of shattered glass. Some had their own, harrowing stories to tell: showered in ash, walking through blood-soaked streets littered with severed body parts, and eyewitnesses to the mortifying specter of men and women leaping to their deaths from the tops of the towers.

Who was in charge? What were they supposed to do? Without offices or computers and unable to locate one another, how could they possibly get a paper out the next day? Was that even a reasonable priority, given the immeasurable human disaster that was unfolding in their midst?

Determined not to let the 9/11 terrorists prevent them from publishing, everyone at Dow Jones — from graphic designers and software engineers to delivery truck drivers and even the corporate catering staff — rallied to make sure the paper was produced and delivered on time. Without being asked, many employees jettisoned their ordinary responsibilities to fill whatever voids in newsgathering and production arose.

For their extraordinary efforts, the staff of The Wall Street Journal was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting.

Author Rotbart has drawn on a large, previously unpublished cache of internal emails and related documents — as well as interviews with dozens of core members of the Journal's 9/11 editorial and production teams — to chronicle the tense struggle of Journal reporters and editors to regroup.

"Although the backdrop for 'September Twelfth' is the attack on the World Trade Center, and the focus is on The Wall Street Journal's response, this is a timeless, universal tale of courage, determination, and resilience that reminds all of us of the indomitable spirit of America and Americans," Rotbart explains.

Signed copies of "September Twelfth," from TJFR Press, are available in hardcover and softcover at no additional cost, exclusively from GutenbergsStore.com. Sales tax and shipping (U.S. only) are included in the cover price.

The book is also available in softcover from Amazon at: https://tinyurl.com/NineTwelve.

Journalism groups, independent booksellers, schools, businesses, museums, and others interested in purchasing bulk copies, or copies for resale, may place their orders at [email protected]. For pricing details and additional information, phone 1-800-TJFR-659 (800-853-7659).

TJFR Press, launched in 1987, previously published the TJFR Business News Reporter, an award-winning trade newsletter focused on influential business and financial news organizations.

Rotbart, founding editor-in-chief of the newsletter, formerly worked as a reporter and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, which nominated him for a Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. He is a recipient of the John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism.

To schedule interviews or media appearances with Rotbart, contact TJFR Press at [email protected] or phone 303-296-1200.

SOURCE TJFR Press