I got up a little late Tuesday. Usually I’m up by 7 a.m., but Monday had been a late night at the paper so I had no motivation to get ready for work and class when I finally rolled out of bed at 8:15.

So I sat in my living room, sipping coffee and watching “Today” on NBC.

I hate the “Today” show. Katie and Matt, Al and Ann as the first on my TV does nothing to start my day off on the right note. Especially Katie. She really drives me up the wall.

But my roommate and I don’t have a remote control for our TV and I was too tired to get off the couch and change the channel myself, so “Today” it was.

And continued to be as the first plane flew into the World Trade Center in New York. Then the second. Then the Pentagon in D.C.

I watched it all, shaking as the horrible images were played again and again. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes away and I was hanging on Katie and Matt’s every word.

In the midst of all this I managed to get showered, dressed and organized enough to head into work, listening to the radio as I drove to campus.

The newsroom was full of people, all glued silently to the images on our small television. Planes crashing into buildings, people falling through the sky and Palestinian men and children celebrating and handing out candy to passers-by.

Everyone was surprised. Amid all of the horror and confusion, why had that clip from Palestine been included?

Soon all of the major stations were broadcasting the images, explaining that the Palestinians were rejoicing after hearing about the terrorism in America.

They were running out in the streets, shooting off automatic weapons and shouting “God is great” in the face of all our nation’s pain.

It was some of the most unfair journalism I’ve ever seen in the American media.

While it was newsworthy that people were rejoicing because of American terrorism, the first clips I saw did not include any information about where these activities were, how many people were involved and how long they lasted. It wasn’t even clear who was shooting the footage. It could’ve been a 2-year-old file clip for all we knew.

By that time comments were already flying over the airwaves about who may be responsible, and the terms Arab, Muslim and Palestinian were being tossed around like swear words in a Campustown bar.

The situation was not helped by follow-up information later in the day.

An Associated Press story that the Daily ran on page 12 of the Wednesday, Sept. 12, edition included more general numbers and locations on the activity, but still seemed to lump the Palestinians with Osama bin Laden into the Arab/Muslim/Terrorist category.

While Palestinians and members of bin Laden’s group are Arab and Muslim by and large, the word terrorist cannot be arbitrarily thrown into the mix.

As the week continued words such as Arab and Muslim were less apparent in the media as they encouraged the public to remember that “We’re all Americans” and the Arab world was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the terrorist actions.

A delayed attempt to avoid racial backlash and discrimination. Nice try.

Especially after the feature segment I saw on CBS. The piece featured a Jewish-American couple who had been living in Jerusalem for the past two years.

They talked about what it was like to live with the possibility of a bomb blowing up every time they took a bus, or bought groceries or walked down their street.

While I recognize that Israel and Jerusalem are often scenes of terrorist actions, it bothered me that there was no Palestinian voice in the entire piece, especially after scenes of Palestinians celebrating were broadcast all over the networks.

While Israelis fear bombs and hijackings, Palestinians fear being shot and their homes being razed.

Both groups are facing hardship, but only one group’s voice is really being heard.

America’s national media is playing with fire. They are publicly endorsing our nation’s equality but not providing equal coverage of the issues surrounding us.

Our government has the ability to choose sides, but our media needs to be strong enough to stand alone.

Andrea Hauser is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Edgewood. She is editor in chief of the Daily.