Events

The First Hours After 9/11: How We Learned What Was Happening

Twenty-five years after September 11, the Trust in Media Cooperative is bringing together the Hon. Ellen McCarthy and Dr. David Bray for a special Trust Dialogue examining one of the most difficult challenges any information system faces: what happens in the first hours of a crisis, when the public desperately wants answers but reliable information is still emerging?

Drawing on decades of government experience spanning national security, intelligence, technology, and information systems, Ellen and David will reflect on how information moved on 9/11, what officials and the public initially believed, and how a clearer picture of what had happened emerged.

They’ll explore how the attacks changed the playbook for sharing information and communicating during a national crisis, and ask a critical question 25 years later: Would that playbook work today?

In an information environment shaped by social media, generative AI, deepfakes, fragmented audiences, and rapidly spreading falsehoods, the first hours of the next major crisis could look dramatically different.

Join us for a conversation about what 9/11 can teach us about preparing for the next information crisis and what government, media, technology, and other institutions need to rethink before it happens.