TV viewers around the world may at times take live news coverage for granted; too often there's no story, only a reporter or commentator at a location, where something happened. In other cases, it's hard to see what's happening even if it is still transpiring. Accessibility, safety and visibility can be difficult.
In this context, the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have no equal. Both the enormity of the events as well as the landscape were laid bare by television cameras. Though there was plenty of uncertainty and unknowns as the tragedy developed, the obvious facts left indelible impressions.
Like many other journalists, CNBC staff watched events unfold in real time while also reporting them live, struggling at times to put the enormity of the death and destruction in perspective.
Here are four snapshots from that day, as network anchors covered what may have been the story of the century.
