Local TV keeping 9-11 in perspective

An image from Channel 31's website.

On the eighth anniversary of the 9-11 assaults, cable-news channels are in full-on flashback mode -- but not Denver affiliates. As I surfed from station to station in the hour prior to 6:46 a.m. Mountain time (the moment when the first plane hit the World Trade Center), I saw the forthcoming commemoration ceremonies mentioned in the context of the day's headlines, but they hardly dominated them. This approach is echoed on the outlets' websites. As of 6:40 a.m., only one of the four major news purveyors -- Channel 31 -- had a 9-11 link in the most prominent home-page position.

(The only thing "major" about the fifth area broadcaster with a news operation, The Deuce, is how embarrassing it is -- and I'm not talking about main anchor Kellie MacMullan's inability to name a single Beatles song the other night. The station's top item at the time noted above? "Great Vanity Plates," accompanied by one that reads, "UNZIP IT.")

Should these channels be offering wall-to-wall 9-11 remembrances today? Not in my view. Those who want to watch such material have plenty of places to find it. Denver stations need to acknowledged the anniversary, as they've done, but they also need to report about what's happening here and now.