Regarding ‘ripple of the ripple’ effect 2 events stand out when I spent 2 years night shift reader analyst midnight to 8 am, 1999 to 2002, for Media Monitors. Perhaps it was the repetitve nature given we categorised literally every news story printed in Australia for that 24 hours, from each capital city daily and regionals. So you were scan reading the same stories again and again for client mentions.

1st was East Timor in 1999: When the fundraiser by CAA/Oxfam - the inaugural 100 km trailwalker - was held the staff at MM generously raised about $4K and it was easy to raise. I put that down to the stress of monitoring the event and sympathy.

2nd event was of course WTC Sept 11. For me personally it was the front page of the AFR - not the night we heard the news which was after the media went to print, but 24 hours later here in Sydney. It was the front pager of the falling man. A fair editorial decision given it was the financial sector workers being killed, that no other newspaper dared run page 1, but the image had a subliminal effect on me. Soon after a guy there died of a stroke probably unrelated. And that was it. I was out of there within 3 months.