C41. Katz, J. E. & Rice, R. E.
(2003). The telephone as a medium of faith,
hope,
terror, and redemption: America, September 11. In M. K. Noll (Ed.), Crisis
communications: Lessons from September 11 (pp. 83-97.) NY: Rowman
&
Littlefield Publishers. [Reprinted
in
J. E. Katz
(2006), Magic in the air: Mobile
communication and the transformation of social
life (pp. 103-111). New Brunswick, NJ:
Transaction Press. Earlier version: Prometheus,
20(3),
247-253].
This article
explores how ordinary people used telephone
technology during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the
USA.
Personal emergency communication is heavily
imbued with emotional meaning. These
messages address major life problems and values, such as leaving final
messages
and expressing love and concern, sometimes requiring extreme
efforts.
They also show that formal technical
characteristics of media, and boundaries across media, are not
particularly
salient to people who have pressing personal and social communication
needs.
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