Time Magazine on the Assassination November 29, 1963
This is the Time Magazine publication
after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
It discusses everything from who was accused,
to how the death affected the United
States as a nation. The cover is of President
Johnson, who was sworn in as president
hours after Kennedy's death.
after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
It discusses everything from who was accused,
to how the death affected the United
States as a nation. The cover is of President
Johnson, who was sworn in as president
hours after Kennedy's death.
How the Word Got Out
Word of the tragedy first went out on the teletype. It was the Twitter of its day, sending out short bursts of information that went out to "followers". Clients ran from different terminals to gather data and then send it out to radio listeners and newspaper subscribers.
At the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, the teletype's role in alerting the nation was reflected in small print in narrow lines on the yellow paper. Reading down, one can follow line by line the developments as they happened. The first line saying "KENNEDY SERIOUSLY WOUNDED--".
News of Kennedy's assassination hit the corners of the world within about an hour. Word spread fastest through radio and TV. CBS announced they would be suspending all other programming.
At the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, the teletype's role in alerting the nation was reflected in small print in narrow lines on the yellow paper. Reading down, one can follow line by line the developments as they happened. The first line saying "KENNEDY SERIOUSLY WOUNDED--".
News of Kennedy's assassination hit the corners of the world within about an hour. Word spread fastest through radio and TV. CBS announced they would be suspending all other programming.
Minute By Minute
The following website has a minute by minute recap of events at the time of the shooting: http://www.jfk.org/go/exhibits/chaos
This are some of the events as they appear on the website:
At 12:32pm, photographer Bob Jackson sees a rifle coming out of a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.
John Allen reports that shots have been fired at the motorcade based on information from the police radio.
Reporter Ben Stevens hears word of the shooting, stands up, and announces to the city newsroom: "This is it . . . It looks like Kennedy's been hit."
12:34pm, UPI- Merriman Smith gives a wire transmission from the AT&T radio car. THIS IS THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF THE SHOOTING ON NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.
1:22pm, CBS radio announces that President Kennedy is dead.
This are some of the events as they appear on the website:
At 12:32pm, photographer Bob Jackson sees a rifle coming out of a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.
John Allen reports that shots have been fired at the motorcade based on information from the police radio.
Reporter Ben Stevens hears word of the shooting, stands up, and announces to the city newsroom: "This is it . . . It looks like Kennedy's been hit."
12:34pm, UPI- Merriman Smith gives a wire transmission from the AT&T radio car. THIS IS THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF THE SHOOTING ON NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.
1:22pm, CBS radio announces that President Kennedy is dead.
Other Accounts
Dr. Larry Lorenz, now a professor as Loyola, recounted how he heard about and distributed the news.
Most of the stories on the wire were routine, but stories editors deemed more consequential could take precedence and were coded so as to trigger alarm bells on the Teletypes. Five bells signaled a "bulletin," major breaking news or an important new development in an ongoing story. A five-bell "urgent" was a story that was important but not as hot as a bulletin. The top priority story, preceded by ten bells, was a "Flash," given to only the most cataclysmic events. Flashes were so rare the edition of the "Broadcast Style Book" that we used then made no mention of them. Subsequent editions would.
The five bells chimed at 12:34. Roberts turned to the machine behind him and tore off the bulletin.
"Hey. Look at this," he said. The bulletin read:
"Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas."As O'Connor recalled it years later, he heard me "shouting 'Jesus Christ!' after Roberts read aloud the first bulletin that came across. Larry practically flew across the room to get to the printer."
I told Renwald to take back control of the broadcast wire. He did, but it was difficult. All the bureaus were sending. Worse, New York tried to send the bulletin from Dallas. "GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF," Renwald typed.
Most of the stories on the wire were routine, but stories editors deemed more consequential could take precedence and were coded so as to trigger alarm bells on the Teletypes. Five bells signaled a "bulletin," major breaking news or an important new development in an ongoing story. A five-bell "urgent" was a story that was important but not as hot as a bulletin. The top priority story, preceded by ten bells, was a "Flash," given to only the most cataclysmic events. Flashes were so rare the edition of the "Broadcast Style Book" that we used then made no mention of them. Subsequent editions would.
The five bells chimed at 12:34. Roberts turned to the machine behind him and tore off the bulletin.
"Hey. Look at this," he said. The bulletin read:
"Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas."As O'Connor recalled it years later, he heard me "shouting 'Jesus Christ!' after Roberts read aloud the first bulletin that came across. Larry practically flew across the room to get to the printer."
I told Renwald to take back control of the broadcast wire. He did, but it was difficult. All the bureaus were sending. Worse, New York tried to send the bulletin from Dallas. "GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF," Renwald typed.
How the Media Butchered the Information
The mainstream media blindly accepted the single-assassination theory made by the FBI within hours of the murder. According to a recent New York Times poll, 77% of Americans didn't believe the Warren Report's conclusions. Why was there such a big gap? The different magazines, movies, and TV stations misrepresented the information and shared it to millions of viewers, by grabbing the first bit of information they could find.
As time went on, and more inconsistencies arose, it became harder for people to believe the Warren Commission's findings. The whole Kennedy campaign was a little iffy from the beginning. There had been rumors that his father even paid for some of his votes. Because it was during the Cold War, there are some rumors that the CIA-Mafia were trying to kill Castro, and that that was related to JFK's murder.
As time went on, and more inconsistencies arose, it became harder for people to believe the Warren Commission's findings. The whole Kennedy campaign was a little iffy from the beginning. There had been rumors that his father even paid for some of his votes. Because it was during the Cold War, there are some rumors that the CIA-Mafia were trying to kill Castro, and that that was related to JFK's murder.
Faults of The Media
"Hundreds of news reporters had flocked to Dallas upon the news of Kennedy’s assassination. Trying to get the best story it was only logical that many of these media men occupied the jail in hopes of seeing Oswald and hearing new statements on him...... This mass crowd of media made it possible for Jack Ruby to slip into the police headquarters although he was not authorized to do so. As television cameras broadcasted live, Ruby pulled out a gun and shot Oswald. This event created a major new development in the assassination for the media, an event that the media had a major role in causing....... As the Warren Report stated, “The erroneous disclosures became the basis for distorted reconstructions and interpretations of the assassination.”10 Clearly, the media’s pressure for information negatively affected how people viewed the assassination, distorting reality with false beliefs about it."
(Monsky, Kathleen. Constant Coverage: How the Media Has Kept the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy Relevant, 1963-1991. Thesis. Rutgers University History Department, 2012. Web.)
(Monsky, Kathleen. Constant Coverage: How the Media Has Kept the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy Relevant, 1963-1991. Thesis. Rutgers University History Department, 2012. Web.)
The Real Shooter and His Death
After a 10 month investigation led that Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvy Oswald acting alone. Before he could stand trial, Jack Ruby shot him. It was filmed in real time, and that ended up being the first televised murder.
Live CBS TV coverage of the aftermath Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. The actual shot being fired is at 4:12 in the video.Originally, people in the police station thought that Jack Ruby was a secret service agent.
Sirens can be heard by the people in the video, and the reporter states that Lee Harvey Oswald is being brought to the hospital.
Live CBS TV coverage of the aftermath Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. The actual shot being fired is at 4:12 in the video.Originally, people in the police station thought that Jack Ruby was a secret service agent.
Sirens can be heard by the people in the video, and the reporter states that Lee Harvey Oswald is being brought to the hospital.