The Kennedy Assassination and Media Coverage
Joel Schaumburg
2
For each generation there is a moment of national tragedy where each person can
remember exactly where they were when they heard the terrible news. Tom Brokaw’s
“greatest” generation will remember where they were when they heard that Pearl Harbor
had been bombed by Japanese warplanes. Younger generations like Gen X’ers will
remember their exact location when they learned that the World Trade Center had been
hit by two hijacked commercial airliners. For the Baby Boomer generation, that moment
is when they heard that President John F Kennedy had been assassinated.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked, radio and newspapers broke the news to the
public and later newsreels showed the destruction to Americans. However, 9-11 and
Kennedy’s assassination were different from Pearl Harbor in that they shared a common
trait: the events surrounding the tragedy were televised live to the homes of the
American people. Covering the assassination of President Kennedy proved to be a great
challenge for television which was still a young medium at the time. The pandemonium
surrounding the shocking event was evident in each network’s broadcast; there was no
other way to portray the events with reporters who were obviously shaken by the events.
The Kennedy assassination coverage tested the television industry to its limits, and
helped shape the idea of conspiracy theories inside the minds of the American people.
November 22, 1963
At 12:30 (CST) CBS was broadcasting As The World Turns. The main character
of the show was deliberating whether or not to remarry his divorced wife.1 Everything
seemed to the viewer as an average day. Then at 1:40, CBS anchor Walter Cronkite
interrupted programming. The picture on the screen cut to a simple graphic stating:
3
“CBS News Bulletin.” After a brief pause, Cronkite began reading: “Here is a bulletin
from CBS News. In Dallas, Texas three shots were fired at President Kennedy’s
motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been
seriously wounded by this shooting.”2 Cronkite was not on air due to the fact that no
cameras were on in the CBS studio, and for cameras to work properly they had to first
“warm up” before they could be used for broadcast.3 After Cronkite continued, “More
details just arrived. President Kennedy shot today just as his motorcade left downtown
Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy jumped up and grabbed Mr. Kennedy, she called ‘Oh no,’ the
motorcade sped on. United Press says that the wounds for President Kennedy could be
fatal.”4 CBS then switched back to its regular programming, which was currently
showing a commercial for NesCafe coffee. The commercial aired for a brief time and
then was interrupted again with another bulletin from Cronkite.
Meanwhile on NBC and ABC similar bulletins were being filed. Confusion was
evident on every network. NBC’s Chet Huntley admitted “Obviously [the information] is
going to be sketchy for some time because you can imagine what is happening to every
circuit, radio, and telephone between the East Coast and Dallas, Texas at this moment.
Obviously the circuits are jammed.”5 Huntley went on to say, “This is no time obviously
for speculation. Facts are all that are warranted.”6 However, all of the networks reported
unconfirmed accounts on how the assassination took place and the current condition of
the slain President. On CBS, Dan Rather reported that Kennedy had died after hearing
the report from two Roman Catholic priests who performed last rites on Kennedy.
Cronkite relayed this information but also stated that it was completely unconfirmed.7
4
This may have been influenced by the technology available to television news at
that time. In 1963, reporters lacked the ability to instantly report on location. Cameras
needed time to warm up and information had to be transferred via hard line coaxial
cables.8 NBC experienced audio troubles, with each reporter’s voice being echoed
quietly a short moment later. NBC correspondent Frank McGee had to relay information
from a telephone call by Robert McNeil from Parkland Hospital by repeating McNeil’s
words to the audience.9 This was because NBC could not establish a direct audio link
from Dallas to the New York studios.10
More audio problems came shortly later, when NBC tried to switch to a live
broadcast from its Fort Worth affiliate WBAP. Reporter Charles Murphey had just
reported that Dallas police had taken a man into custody when the audio feed cut out.
NBC switched back to its New York studios for a short moment and the Dallas audio
feed came back online. NBC tried once again to switch to Dallas, but the audio cut out
once again. The next time NBC switched back to New York, a loud bang and tone was
heard. Anchor Bill Ryan admitted there was a problem with the audio and said that “This
is a time of what would probably best be described as controlled panic.”11
Along with technical problems, news anchors faced emotional stress. Each
correspondent seemed to attempt to delay the inevitable news that the president was
dead.12 Every time a report that the President was dead was given, the anchors of each
network reminded the audience that these reports were unconfirmed, as if they were still
trying to give the American people hope that their president was still alive. Finally, the
confirmation arrived. CBS’s Walter Cronkite stopped relaying a report on the number of
Dallas police officers in the area and began reading a new bulletin: “From Dallas, Texas
5
the flash apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 PM Central Standard Time;
2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some thirty-eight minutes ago.”13 Cronkite then stopped,
removed his glasses and tried to regain his composure. Obviously choked up, Cronkite
continued to report that Vice President Johnson would be taking the oath of office soon.
Cronkite paused again after reading the report.
NBC’s Frank McGee was still repeating Dallas correspondent Robert McNeil’s
reports via telephone when confirmation of Kennedy’s death reached NBC. McGee
stated “White House Press Secretary…Malcolm Kilduff…has just announced…that
President Kennedy…” McGee paused and grimaced for a brief second, then continued,
“died at approximately one o’ clock…”14 Like the rest of America, the networks’
anchors were shocked by the news of Kennedy’s death.
In the days that followed November 22, 1963, America began the mourning
process and tried to make sense of what had happened. On November 24, Americans
watched the most elaborate state funeral in US history live on television. According to
Nielsen ratings, 93% of American televisions were tuned to coverage of Kennedy’s
funeral.15 However, the audience would be shocked again when Lee Harvey Oswald, the
man charged with the murder of President Kennedy, would be shot and killed on live
television.
Television cameras were focused on the President’s funeral caisson which was
preparing to transfer Kennedy’s body from the White House to the Capital Rotunda.16
NBC elected to switch over from coverage of the preparations in Washington, D.C. to the
transfer of Oswald in Dallas because NBC’s Frank McGee heard Dallas reporter Tom
Petit shout “Give me air! Give me air!” NBC switched just in time to watch Jack Ruby
6
shoot Oswald.17 CBS was also receiving a live feed from Dallas, but opted to stay with
the funeral coverage. CBS did switch over to their Dallas feed, but did not see the
murder live. However, CBS did replay the video of Oswald being shot on air shortly
after.18
Millions viewed the murder of the alleged assassin of the president. ABC’s
Howard K. Smith said of Oswald’s murder, “We will never hear this man's story. There
is something wrong and we do not know what it is."19 Americans were left with so many
unanswered questions, mainly wondering why Oswald did it. This led to the creation of
dozens of speculative conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy’s assassination.
However, in the recent years that followed the assassination, many Americans believed
what was reported to them in the Warren Report. They believed that Oswald had acted
alone and he had acted under his own convictions. However, a few years later Americans
began to question the accuracy of the Warren Report and raised questions about a
conspiracy surrounding Kennedy’s murder. In 1966 a Gallup poll showed that 6 out of
10 Americans did not believe the Warren Report.20 The media helped fuel some of these
doubts.
After the assassination of President Kennedy, Americans were in disbelief. They
could not believe or accept the fact that the leader of the free world had been murdered
by one deranged individual. Kennedy’s death was worth more than that. They felt as if
only a mass conspiracy would be a fitting reason for the death of the United States’
president. As soon as Oswald was shot, questions arose. Why would a nightclub
manager murder the man who could explain why he killed the president? Was he
suddenly overcome with grief, or was it to keep Oswald from revealing more than what
7
we knew? The former explanation could be backed by how the media portrayed Oswald.
As soon as Oswald was first shown on camera after being taken into custody by Dallas
police, he was described to be a former Soviet sympathizer and a pro-Castro supporter.21
This would suggest that the USSR or Cuba had something to do with the assassination.
The media instantly presumed Oswald to be guilty. Newsweek magazine commented on
Oswald’s denial that he killed anyone stating “This was a lie.”22
The media may have also led to Oswald’s death by reporting the details of his
transfer to Dallas County Jail. The equipment needed to cover the live transfer of Oswald
may have created less protection for him, as Jack Ruby was able to hide inside the media
circus that followed Oswald.23 Even CBS reported from Dallas that Oswald’s assailant
was, “A man wearing a black hat, a brown coat. A man everyone down here thought was
a Secret Service agent.”24 With so many people in the basement of the Dallas jail, it was
impossible to tell who was who and Ruby was able to remain concealed in the crowd.
Also, some of the information reported while covering the assassination of
President Kennedy may have led to the creation of conspiracy theories. CBS’s Dan
Rather reported that the fatal wound to Kennedy “entered at base of the throat and came
out at the base of the neck on the back side.”25 Rather also reported later that after
viewing the Zapruder film (the amateur film portraying the president being struck by two
shots) he had seen the president’s head “[fall] forward with considerable violence.” This
statement fueled the fire of the theories that claim more than one gunman was present and
that the president had been struck from the front, causing Kennedy’s head to jerk
backward.26
8
The medical reports from Parkland Hospital were supposed to clear up confusion
about where the shots were fired from. The task of determining the entrance and exit
wound would resolve if Kennedy were struck from behind or the front. However, the
medical briefings did just the opposite. When reporters asked surgeon Malcolm Perry if
it were possible that one of the shots fired could have struck Kennedy from the front,
Perry answered affirmatively. Reporters quickly relayed this answer across the country
and by the next morning many Americans were convinced that Kennedy had been struck
by a shot fired from the top of the underpass ahead of the motorcade.27
In 1967, CBS sensed that the country did not believe the Warren Commission’s
findings and set out to debunk the report with the network’s own findings. CBS spent
over a half a million dollars on the documentary investigation.28 The inquiry determined
that the Warren Commission’s Report was in fact correct in determining Oswald was the
shooter based upon the evidence given. The inquiry and the Warren Report did not,
however, rule out the idea that Oswald worked alone or that he was part of a larger
conspiracy.29 The American public still had its doubts about the assassination.
The biggest piece of evidence in the investigation of the assassination of President
Kennedy was the Zapruder film. Dan Rather attempted to gain the rights to it, but was
denied and eventually the film was owned by Life magazine.30 The film was not shown
on national television until March of 1975. While the film was available in 1963, it was
not shown because Americans were not ready to see the gore portrayed in the film and it
would have been disrespectful to the Kennedy family. When the entire film was shown
on television in 1975, it displayed the graphic footage of Kennedy being struck in the
head with a bullet. This film convinced many that the Warren Commission had erred.31
9
In 1976, a second federal investigation began reanalyzing the claims the Warren
Commission had made in its report. This House Select Committee on Assassinations was
prompted by new acoustic testimony, which suggested that there had been another
shooter besides Oswald. After two years, the Committee ruled that there had probably
been a second gunman and that Kennedy had probably been “assassinated as the result of
a conspiracy.”32 The committee was formed in an effort to regain the American people’s
faith in their government. Vietnam, Watergate, and the scandals of the 1970s had
destroyed the public’s trust in government, and the House Select Committee on
Assassinations sought to regain that trust by pandering to the beliefs of the public.33
The media coverage of the JFK assassination continues even today. Often each
November, TV documentaries on the subject surface, reexamining the events of
November 22, 1963. These programs tend to focus on the mystery that surrounds the
assassination. NBC’s JFK: That Day in November made this statement about the murder
of JFK: “Twenty-five years after that murderous day in Dallas, we still don’t know for
sure whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.”34 KXAS anchor Alyce Carone stated
“Every year we tell this story and every year there seems to be a new twist. A new
witness who might seemingly change history. That’s part of the continuing drama
surrounding the Kennedy assassination.”35 The media’s continuing coverage of one of
America’s darkest times has influenced what people believe about the assassination of
President Kennedy. A 1998 CBS poll found that 76% of Americans believed that
Oswald did not work alone. 74% believed that there was a government cover-up, and
77% believed that we would never really know the truth.36
10
Anyone who knows about the Kennedy assassination has their own beliefs on
what actually happened. These beliefs have been influenced by what people read in
history books, what they’ve seen in television documentaries, or what they’ve watched
from Hollywood such as Oliver Stone’s JFK. The story of Kennedy’s assassination will
remain as the media remembers it, and thus it will remain in the minds of the public who
view the media’s interpretation of history.37 The media will continue to shape history
through their coverage and consequently their recollection of their coverage. While
many media outlets claim they only report the ideas and theories surrounding the
assassination, they are unknowingly building support for those claims of conspiracy.
Americans still cannot accept that such a president as John F Kennedy could be
taken away by a deranged sociopath. Therefore, that is why so many Americans believe
that Oswald was part of something much larger—something more fitting for Kennedy’s
stature as a man and a leader. We may never know the truth with absolute certainty
behind the Kennedy assassination, we can only recall how history and the media
remember the events in late November of 1963.
11
Endnotes
“America’s Long Vigil.” TV Guide, Jan. 24, 1965
“Four Days In November.” Columbia Broadcasting System, Nov. 17, 1988. Video at Museum of
Broadcast Communications Archive online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
3
Thomas Doherty, “Assassination and Funeral of President John F Kennedy,” The Museum of Broadcast
Communications
4
“Four Days In November.” Columbia Broadcasting System, Nov. 17, 1988. Video at Museum of
Broadcast Communications Archive online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
5
Original News Footage. NBC. Nov 22, 1963. Video at Museum of Broadcast Communications Archive
online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
6
Ibid.
7
“Four Days In November.” Columbia Broadcasting System, Nov. 17, 1988. Video at Museum of
Broadcast Communications Archive online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
8
Nicholas Tresilian, “The Day Kennedy Died…And After,” Time Society, 1995.
9
Original News Footage. NBC. Nov 22, 1963. Video at Museum of Broadcast Communications Archive
online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
10
Thomas Doherty, “Assassination and Funeral of President John F Kennedy,” The Museum of Broadcast
Communications
11
Original News Footage. NBC. Nov 22, 1963. Video at Museum of Broadcast Communications Archive
online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
12
“America’s Long Vigil.” TV Guide, Jan. 24, 1965.
13
“Four Days In November.” Columbia Broadcasting System, Nov. 17, 1988. Video at Museum of
Broadcast Communications Archive online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
14
Original News Footage. NBC. Nov 22, 1963. Video at Museum of Broadcast Communications Archive
online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
15
Barbie Zelizer, Covering The Body, 1992 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 62.
16
Thomas Doherty, “Assassination and Funeral of President John F Kennedy,” The Museum of Broadcast
Communications
17
“America’s Long Vigil.” TV Guide, Jan. 24, 1965.
18
Ibid.
19
Ibid.
20
“Cronkite Remembers.” Discovery Channel. Sept. 12, 1997. Video at Museum of Broadcast
Communications Archive online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
21
“Four Days In November.” Columbia Broadcasting System, Nov. 17, 1988. Video at Museum of
Broadcast Communications Archive online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
22
Barbie Zelizer, Covering The Body, 1992 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 72-73.
23
Ibid, 97.
24
“Four Days In November.” Columbia Broadcasting System, Nov. 17, 1988. Video at Museum of
Broadcast Communications Archive online http://archives.museum.tv/archives
25
Ibid.
26
Barbie Zelizer, Covering The Body, 1992 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 109
27
Ibid, 56.
28
“Cronkite Remembers.” Discovery Channel. Sept. 12, 1997. Video at Museum of Broadcast
29
Ibid.
30
Thomas Doherty, “Assassination and Funeral of President John F Kennedy,” The Museum of Broadcast
Communications
31
Barbie Zelizer, Covering The Body, 1992 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 115.
32
Ibid, 118.
33
Ibid, 112, 117 - 118
34
Leah R. Vandeberg, “Living Room Pilgrimages,” Communication Monographs, March 1995.
35
Ibid.
36
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/11/20/opinion/main23166.shtml. “CBS Poll: JFK Conspiracy
Lives,” Accessed on Internet 11/9/09.
1
2
12
37
Barbie Zelizer, Covering The Body, 1992 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 214.