Linda Ellerbee, by now, really, really knows what she's doing. After carving out one distinguished career in TV news as an anchor and commentator, she's spent decades establishing another, as the anchor, and heart and soul, of Nickelodeon's Nick News, which explains complex issues and news events without resorting to insider doublespeak, verbal duels or flashy visuals.
Thursday night at 9 ET, she takes on 9/11, in a Nick News special aimed at an audience that was in grade school, if that, when America was attacked. It's a program all young people should watch. And all older people, too...
The approach of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: "What Happened: The Story of September 11, 2001" is exemplified in its title. Instead of using the now-universal 9/11 shorthand to refer to the date of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, the program takes that date and literally spells it out. Similarly, it spells out everything else just as clearly, often getting youngsters themselves to pose the questions. And what questions:
Who was responsible for it, and where were they from?
Do the majority of Muslims feel this way towards America?
What were the terrorists trying to prove?
What did 9/11 have to do with the invasion of Iraq?
To answer the questions, this Nick News special seeks out, and presents, an impressive range and caliber of interviewees, from 9/11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer to homeland security and Islamic studies experts. There's even a visit with someone who has been almost entirely under the radar for the past decade: Aaron Brown (pictured), the memorable, emotional anchor who presided over much of CNN's 9/11 coverage and aftermath.
Even better, though, is that this Nick News special talks with, as well as to, young people -- ones with various ties to the tragedies.
One young man, who was seven years old in 2001, was in the classroom that morning as President George W. Bush first heard the news from a whispering aide.
"His face just went dead," the young man recalls.
A woman who was 14 years old a decade ago tells of realizing her sister was aboard Flight 93, the aircraft whose crew and passengers thwarted the hijackers' plans by crashing the plane en route to its target.
Other young adults who, when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, were 10 and 11 -- and mere blocks from the site -- share what they saw, and who helped and protected them.
Ellerbee hears their stories, and gives her own account of 9/11, patiently (and without any hint of condescension) defining such terms as Newark and hijacking. After watching the special, and hearing her conclusions about what lessons young people should take away from the event, I felt hopeful, not sad.
I don't expect to feel the same after watching many too other 9/11 anniversary shows the next 10 days...