History Music / NewsAt11

* NothingIsScarier: The entire second half dispenses with distinctive track names and the clips of the peppy morning newscasters and commercials, and the only spoken words come from automated repetitive Weather Channel promos and recordings. The sudden absence of morning show banter is noticeable and somewhat spooky, especially given the context of the first half's soundbites.
** Hell, even the soundbites [[LostInTransmission cutting out]] is unnerving, as even though it's clear what the album is about, it feels as though the album is trying to hide something in its first half.

** This occurs in the other direction as well. The heavier pre-attack news stories consisted of things like an unmanned American spy plane shot down in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_no-fly_zones_conflict southern Iraqi no-fly zone]], jury selection in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates Andrea Yates]] trial, an Israeli military action in the West Bank city of Jenin, and ''Series/{{Nightline}}'''s "Heart of Darkness" series about UsefulNotes/TheCongoWars.[[note]]ABC's last commercial before breaking into 9/11 coverage was an advertisement for the series, which had begun the previous evening. Naturally, the attacks' coverage prevented the rest of the series from airing in full that week; ''Nightline'' aired the remaining parts in January 2002, and the series later won a Peabody Award.[[/note]] In addition, a major ongoing story around that time was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Chandra_Levy Chandra Levy's disappearance]]. However, the album sidesteps all of these heavy news stories in favor of host banter, fluff about the weather, a couple of interviews, a handful of commercials, and an unremarkable stock market report.

** This occurs in the other direction as well. The heavier pre-attack news stories consisted of things like an unmanned American spy plane shot down in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_no-fly_zones_conflict southern Iraqi no-fly zone]], jury selection in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates Andrea Yates]] trial, an Israeli military action in the West Bank city of Jenin, and ''Series/{{Nightline}}'''s "Heart of Darkness" series about UsefulNotes/TheCongoWars.[[note]]ABC's last commercial that day was an advertisement for the series, which had begun the previous evening. Naturally, 9/11 coverage prevented the rest of the series from airing in full that week; ''Nightline'' aired the remaining parts in January 2002, and the series later won a Peabody Award.[[/note]] In addition, a major ongoing story around that time was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Chandra_Levy Chandra Levy's disappearance]]. However, the album sidesteps all of these heavy news stories in favor of host banter, fluff about the weather, a couple of interviews, a handful of commercials, and an unremarkable stock market report.

** This occurs in the other direction as well. The heavier pre-attack news stories consisted of things like an unmanned American spy plane shot down in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_no-fly_zones_conflict southern Iraqi no-fly zone]], jury selection in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates Andrea Yates]] trial, and an Israeli military action in the West Bank city of Jenin. In addition, a major ongoing story around that time was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Chandra_Levy Chandra Levy's disappearance]]. However, the album sidesteps all of these heavy news stories in favor of host banter, fluff about the weather, a couple of interviews, a handful of commercials, and an unremarkable stock market report.

** The album also famously includes soundbites of Creator/[[AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]]'s Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer; Creator/{{CBS}}'s Mark [=McEwen=]; Creator/{{NBC}}'s Creator/KatieCouric, Creator/AlRoker, and Matt Lauer (the latter of whom is heard interviewing writer Richard Hack); CBS affiliate WUSA's Hillary Howard; NBC affiliate WRC's Tom Kierein; [=CNNfn=]'s David Haffenreffer; and CNN's Amanda Lang -- all sampled from before the attacks on the morning of 9/11.[[note]]The bonus tracks also include NBC's Willard Scott, and NBC affiliate WRC's Barbara Harrison.[[/note]]

** The album also famously includes soundbites of Creator/{{ABC}}'s Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer; Creator/{{CBS}}'s Mark [=McEwen=]; Creator/{{NBC}}'s Creator/KatieCouric, Creator/AlRoker, and Matt Lauer (the latter of whom is heard interviewing writer Richard Hack); CBS affiliate WUSA's Hillary Howard; NBC affiliate WRC's Tom Kierein; [=CNNfn=]'s David Haffenreffer; and CNN's Amanda Lang -- all sampled from before the attacks on the morning of 9/11.[[note]]The bonus tracks also include NBC's Willard Scott, and NBC affiliate WRC's Barbara Harrison.[[/note]]

-->'''Katie Couric:''' I know that you have said that much of the music we listen to today echoes some of the music we heard, say, a hundred years ago, or more.[[note]]Belafonte's response, not heard on the album: "What's astounding is that almost all of American culture, regardless of race, has most of its resonance deeply rooted in African music. And we take an awful lot for granted, whether you're in {{rock|AndRoll}}, or you're in [[HipHop rap]], or you're in the UsefulNotes/{{Broadway|AndTheWestEnd}} theatre, or almost any avenue of musical expression in America, you'll find resonance of Africa throughout the American culture. "[[/note]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/newsat11_catsystemcorp.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Good Morning America, I'm Charles Gibson." "I'm Diane Sawyer, and it's Tuesday, Septem--" ''[RecordScratch]'']]