Missoula call‑in forum surfaces divergent local reactions to Sept. 11 attacks

Missoula Community Access Television ran a live call‑in forum on Wednesday, Sept. 19 that gave local residents an opportunity to respond to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"Good evening. I'm Joel Baird, General Manager of Missoula Community Access Television," Baird said at the start of the program and explained MCAT's intent to offer a neutral local forum for callers. "It is our goal to remain as neutral as possible in providing a service."

The conversation, carried on two telephone lines displayed on screen, showed a wide spectrum of views among Missoulians. Some callers pressed for strong military action and immediate retaliation; one said, "we need to act now" and suggested extreme options, including targeting symbolic sites. Other callers urged caution, arguing the causes of the attacks should be examined and that retaliation risked killing innocent people.

Several callers directly questioned the role of U.S. foreign policy. One said she wanted "some more enlightenment and acknowledgement" of past American actions abroad and asked that the media explore motivations behind anger directed at the United States. Another caller replied, "I'm an American and that foreign policy did not dictate killing Americans," expressing that the attacks were not the fault of ordinary citizens.

Discussion also touched on how the nation should remember those killed. One caller suggested creating a memorial at Ground Zero rather than immediately rebuilding the World Trade Center complex. Another caller urged following financial trails tied to the attacks, saying investigators should "follow the money" to identify who profited.

Host Joel Baird repeatedly framed the program as a local, neutral space for conversation and for announcing community events. He described MCAT's mission as providing training, equipment and channel time for Missoulians and said the station would revert to its scheduled programming — a film described for the visually impaired — if caller participation declined.

The session recorded a handful of callers who expressed strong emotions: anger, grief and uncertainty about the appropriate response. The program captured competing sentiments common nationally in the days after Sept. 11 — unity and calls to protect the country, alongside debate over whether the response should be military, legal or diplomatic and concern about civilian casualties.

The forum included appeals for community-level action: callers asked for local events and remembrance activities to be announced, and Baird said he would note and repeat such announcements on air. The program concluded with Baird inviting future uses of MCAT as a local forum and restating the station's neutral role in programming and community exchange.