Covering the JFK Assassination As It Happened: TV Reporters & Broadcast Journalism (2005)
From the time the CBS affiliates joined Walter Cronkite in the news room at around 2:00 EST to approximately 2:38 EST, the coverage alternated from the CBS Newsroom to KRLD-TV’s Eddie Barker at the Dallas Trade Mart where President Kennedy was to give his luncheon address. In the 15 to 20 minutes before Kilduff’s official announcement, rumors of the President’s death were broadcast on radio and TV. At approximately 2:11 EST, CBS News correspondent Dan Rather telephoned one of the two priests who performed last rites on Kennedy to confirm that he had indeed been shot. “Yes, he’s been shot and he is dead,” the priest told Rather. Almost simultaneously at the Trade Mart, a doctor went up to Barker and whispered, “Eddie, he is dead… I called the emergency room and he is DOA.” Moments later, as the news cameras panned throughout the Trade Mart crowds, Barker gave this report:
” As you can imagine, there are many stories that are coming in now as to the actual condition of the President. One is that he is dead; this cannot be confirmed. Another is that Governor Connally is in the operating room; this we have not confirmed. ”
Several minutes later, when CBS switched back to KRLD and the Trade Mart for another report, Barker repeated the claim of the President’s death, adding “the source would normally be a good one.” During this report, as Barker was speaking of security precautions for the President’s visit, a Trade Mart employee was shown removing the Presidential seal from the podium where President Kennedy was to speak.
Meanwhile, Rather proceeded to telephone CBS News officials in New York, telling executive Mort Dank, “I think he’s dead.” Despite the unofficial nature of Rather’s report, CBS Radio newsroom supervisor Robert Skedgell wrote “JFK DEAD” on a slip of paper and handed it to CBS Radio news anchor Alan Jackson. At 2:22 EST, eleven minutes before Kilduff’s official announcement, Jackson made the following announcement:
” Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States is dead. John F. Kennedy has died of the wounds he received in an assassination in Dallas less than an hour ago. We repeat, it has just been announced that President Kennedy is dead. ”
After the announcement, CBS Radio, apparently trying to play The Star Spangled Banner, inadvertently aired a brief excerpt of an LP Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings played at the wrong speed of 78 RPM. After a few seconds of silence, Jackson repeated the news:
” John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President Of The United States, is dead at the age of 46. Shot by an assassin as he drove through the streets of Dallas, Texas less than an hour ago. Repeating this, the President is dead, killed in Dallas, Texas by a gunshot wound. ”
This was followed by an excerpt from the first movement to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. After the music Jackson again repeated the news, followed by “The Star Spangled Banner”.
While CBS Radio had taken this to be confirmation of the president’s death, there was a debate going on between CBS television network officials as to whether or not to report this development, as Rather’s report was not a truly official confirmation. At 2:27 pm, they decided to give Rather’s report to Cronkite, who relayed this to the nation:
” We just have a report from our correspondent Dan Rather in Dallas that he has confirmed that President Kennedy is dead. There is still no official confirmation of this. However, it’s a report from our correspondent, Dan Rather, in Dallas, Texas. ”
Then, at approximately 2:32 EST, one of the newsroom staff members rushed to Cronkite’s desk with another bulletin. As Cronkite read the bulletin, he had to re-read it as he stumbled over his words.
” The priest… who were with Kennedy… the two priests who were with Kennedy say that he is dead of his bullet wounds. That seems to be about as close to official as we can get at this time. “
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