ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the discussion in journalism of these presumably shared values and the rituals through which journalists offered consolation and closure, and found lessons in circumstances of chaos and horror. It surveys two prominent examples of this process, each a series of articles published throughout the fall of 2001 by media based in either New York City or Washington (two sites of the disaster) yet read nationwide: the "Portraits of Grief" obituary series published in The New York Times and the coverage provided by the three major American newsweekly magazines, Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. The analysis traces the ways in which news media helped to create sense and consensus by conducting what was, in effect, a national funeral ceremony.
