During the September 11 attacks in 2001 , WUSA made the decision to preempt CBS ' national coverage of the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center with its own local coverage ; this decision proved controversial . As a local affiliate , WUSA did not possess the resources to cover the attacks as extensively as the national network , and its decision to institute a " CBS blackout " prevented its audience from viewing much of the national reporting anchored by Dan Rather . '' The Washington Post '' criticized this decision , writing , " The city was subjected to a CBS blackout by the local affiliate , Gannett-owned Channel 9 . The station chose to view this , incredibly enough , as a local story and reported it initially as if it were a winter snow day and school closings were of the utmost importance . " From May 2008 until the end of its original run in 2016 , WUSA served as the production studio for the program '' The McLaughlin Group '' which was also broadcast on some select CBS stations ( including its New York City owned-and-operated station WCBS-TV ) beginning in May 2007 and on some PBS member stations ( locally via WETA-TV and WHUT-TV ) , the show was distributed by WTTW out of Chicago , with the production facilities moved over from NBC owned-and-operated station WRC-TV , where show had been based since its premiere in 1982
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
WUSA (TV)