Unforgettable Moments: Remembering the JFK Assassination 60 Years Later

Accident – Death – Obituary News : On November 22, 1963, the world watched in shock as CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite announced the death of President John F. Kennedy. This moment marked the beginning of a new era in media, as the three major television networks – NBC, CBS, and ABC – provided live, continuous coverage of a national crisis for the first time in history.

The marathon broadcasts that followed set the template for the decades to come, as viewers grew accustomed to seeing major events unfold in real time. Unlike today’s media landscape, where there are countless outlets for consumers to catch up on demand, everyone watched the JFK tragedy and its aftermath at the same time.

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather remembers that during this time, “The only thing on television anywhere in the country was the Kennedy assassination.” The footage of the network and local TV coverage can still be found on platforms like YouTube and is often revisited on significant anniversaries.

Film director Rob Reiner, who recently collaborated with journalist Soledad O’Brien on a podcast about the JFK assassination, reflects on the impact of this event. Reiner recalls being sent home from school and spending the weekend transfixed by the wall-to-wall coverage. “For those of us who were around at the time, it just never leaves you,” he said.

O’Brien, a former CNN anchor, was struck by the restraint shown by journalists during that time. She notes that the coverage lacked the over-the-top sensationalism that is often seen today. “No one is saying anything they’re not sure about,” she said.

One notable aspect of the coverage was the lack of visual documentation of the assassination itself. Unlike today, when nearly everyone has a smartphone capable of capturing video, there were no TV or newspaper photographers present at the moment of impact. The historic images of that day were captured by ordinary people in the crowd, using snapshots and home movie cameras. This scarcity of visual evidence has contributed to public skepticism and generated conspiracy theories about the assassination.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, reflects on the impact of this lack of visual documentation. “When I show the assassination footage to my students, immediately they say, ‘Oh, God, if it happened in another era, we’d know who shot Kennedy for sure because we would have all had our iPhones recording it,'” he said.

At the time of Kennedy’s assassination, television was still a relatively new medium, and the country primarily relied on newspapers and radio for news. Network TV coverage was limited to evening newscasts, which were neither immediate nor comprehensive. The all-day, continuous coverage that we now take for granted was still many years away.

However, the dramatic events unfolding in Dallas prompted the networks to provide live video feeds that preempted all regular programming. Viewers saw every moment of the shooting’s aftermath in real time, including the shocking killing of Kennedy’s assailant, Lee Harvey Oswald. This unprecedented coverage captivated the nation and turned television into a living room town hall where Americans could collectively mourn and try to make sense of the tragedy.

The journalists who covered the JFK assassination saw their careers elevated by the experience. Many went on to become network TV anchors, including Bob Schieffer and Dan Rather at CBS, Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer at PBS, and Peter Jennings at ABC.

Rather, who was a young reporter at CBS at the time, recalls the impact of the assassination on his career. “Before the Kennedy assassination, I was considered a ‘maybe’ for sticking it out and making a career at CBS News,” he said. “It was viewed as a very routine presidential pre-campaign trip.” However, his coverage of the assassination put him on a path to becoming a respected journalist and eventually Cronkite’s successor at the “CBS Evening News.”

Schieffer, who was a police reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram during the assassination, also experienced a career boost from his coverage of the event. He went on to have a long and successful career at CBS, including hosting “Face the Nation” for 20 years.

The assassination of President Kennedy was a tragic and transformative moment in American history. It forever changed the way news was covered and consumed, setting the stage for the 24-hour news cycle and the constant stream of information we are accustomed to today. The images and stories from that day continue to captivate audiences and serve as a reminder of the power and impact of media..