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Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events

A new survey indicates that about half of US adults consider the 2001 attacks among the most important events of their lives.

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Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events

What this story says

  • Approximately half of US adults consider the 9/11 attacks among the most important historic events of their lifetimes, according to a new Ipsos poll.
  • About two-thirds of Americans believe the 9/11 attacks had a significant impact on the country, while 3 in 10 report it permanently changed their lives, Gallup polling suggests.
  • Despite the perceived impact, only about 1 in 10 US adults plan to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
  • For Americans aged 65 and older, 9/11 was the most frequently mentioned historic event, followed by JFK's assassination and space expeditions.

Who covered it

Left 27%(23)Centre 65%(34)Right 8%(7)

Percentages are shares of the 64 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 8 of the 72 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

61/100

Hype

20/100

72 sources · methodology

Missing from the right

Only 7 of the 64 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Twenty-five years after the September 11, 2001, attacks, a new Ipsos poll indicates that about half of US adults consider the events among the most important historic occurrences of their lifetimes. The poll also found that approximately two-thirds of Americans believe 9/11 impacted the country significantly. Separate Gallup polling suggests that 3 in 10 US adults report that the attacks permanently changed their lives.

Despite the enduring significance attributed to the attacks, relatively few Americans plan to commemorate the upcoming 25th anniversary. The Ipsos poll found that only about 1 in 10 US adults intend to mark the occasion. For those aged 65 and older, the 9/11 attacks were the most frequently mentioned historic event, followed by President John F. Kennedy's assassination, space expeditions, and the Vietnam War.

The poll also explored how younger generations perceive historic events. For Americans under 35, the COVID-19 pandemic was more prominent, with about half naming it as among the most impactful events of their lifetime, compared to about one-third who mentioned 9/11. A significant portion of younger adults were not born when the attacks occurred or were too young to remember them.

Differing views on impact and commemoration

While the Ipsos poll found about half of US adults named the 9/11 attacks as a most important historic event, 31% mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic. For Americans 65 and older, 9/11 was the most frequently cited event, followed by JFK's assassination, space expeditions, and the Vietnam War. The Gallup poll indicated that 3 in 10 US adults reported that 9/11 permanently changed their lives.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention the finding that about one-third of U.S. adults say the country is "more safe" from foreign attacks since 9/11, and a similar share say it is "less safe."

Coverage settled. We checked this 27 times and stopped on 16 Sept 2026, 02:01. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

23 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports highlighted the enduring significance of the 9/11 attacks, noting that about half of US adults consider them among the most important historic events of their lifetimes. They also pointed to the finding that about two-thirds of Americans believe 9/11 impacted the country significantly. Several reports mentioned that for Americans aged 65 and older, 9/11 was the most frequently cited historic event, followed by JFK's assassination and space expeditions. The digests also noted that only about 1 in 10 US adults plan to commemorate the 25th anniversary.

Centre

34 rated outlets

  • Washington Top News and KOB 4 led with polling data showing the 9/11 attacks are still considered among the most important historic events in Americans' lives. Both outlets reported that about half of U.S. adults named the attacks in an open-ended question about significant occurrences.
  • These reports noted that two-thirds of Americans feel 9/11 greatly impacted the country. Washington Top News and KOB 4 also included personal accounts from individuals who remembered the attacks and their lasting effects.
  • The digests from The Record, Newsday, Herald Bulletin, The Lawton Constitution, WKMG, Winnipeg Free Press, WFLD, The EagleHerald, and LiveNOW from FOX all stated that a new poll found the 9/11 attacks remain significant historical events for many Americans.

Right

7 rated outlets

  • The right-rated report's digest stated that 9/11 ranks among the most historic events in many Americans' lifetimes, according to a new poll. It also noted that about half of U.S. adults name the 9/11 attacks in an open-ended question about the most important historic occurrences of their lifetimes.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events?
Of the 64 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 27% are rated left, 65% are rated centre, 8% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 72. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 64 rated outlets on this story, 27% are rated left, 65% are rated centre, 8% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events biased?
Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events is one event reported by 72 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Poll: 9/11 remains among most significant US historic events?
72 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How many Americans consider 9/11 a historic event?
A new Ipsos poll indicates that approximately half of U.S. adults consider the 9/11 attacks among the most important historic events of their lifetimes. About two-thirds of Americans also believe the attacks had a significant impact on the country.
Do many Americans plan to commemorate the 9/11 anniversary?
No, relatively few Americans plan to mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Ipsos poll found that only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults intend to do something to commemorate the occasion.
Which historic events are most remembered by older Americans?
For Americans aged 65 and older, the 9/11 attacks were the most frequently mentioned historic event. This was followed by President John F. Kennedy's assassination, space expeditions, and the Vietnam War, according to the Ipsos poll.
How do younger Americans view the 9/11 attacks compared to other events?
For Americans under 35, the COVID-19 pandemic is more prominent as a historic event than 9/11. About half of this age group named the pandemic as impactful, while about one-third mentioned the 9/11 attacks.

Read it at the source

72 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

23
Show 15 more

Centre

34
Show 26 more

Right

7

Not rated

8

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

9/11 Remains Significant | MediaBias News