(News Package) Hady Omar
This is an edited-together version of a two-part sweeps package that I edited in 2002, concerning a local man of Middle Eastern origin who was rounded up in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001. In the news feeding frenzy that surrounded this arrest, the other two news stations in the area both managed to disclose Omar’s name and even where he worked on the air, before those details were officially released in any capacity; when it came time for his wife to tell their story, 40/29 was the only station that got this level of access. It’s a pretty solid package, and we wanted to edit it in a way that the station’s all-tape edit bays just couldn’t do. The decision was also taken - this being exactly two months after 9/11 - to take it easy on any actual 9/11 footage and show it only fleetingly. (Shots of planes going into buildings were already forbidden by this time, and I was surprised I got away with the shot of the towers.) The shot of the computer screen depicting the internet ticket reservations for 9/11 was a bit of graphical fakery on my part, but it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
This story aired on November 12th and 13th, 2001. The reporter was Courtney Monie and the photog was Eric Semmel; they later got married, and Hady Omar was later released, though by now his chances of living any kind of normal life in this area were trashed and he and his family left for greener pastures.
