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November 22, 1963: A President Falls…TV News Ascends

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

November 22, 1963: A President Falls…TV News Ascends

Until the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, breaking news coverage had been the domain of the print media, but the story of that weekend unfolded so fast, only live television could deliver both the story and the unforgettable images.

During that 4 days of nonstop, commercial free broadcasting, Americans came to accept TV news for its unique ability and trustworthy presentation.

What follows is a very interesting account of how the UPI and AP wire reporters in the motorcade fought to cover the story. http://ajrarchive.org/article.asp?id=1672

After that awful day in Dallas, no one and nothing in this country was ever the same again…especially television news. -Bobby Ellerbee

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24 responses to “November 22, 1963: A President Falls…TV News Ascends”

  1. Kevin Jones

    Viewing the ABC coverage, they kept reporting that a secret service was killed instantly.

  2. Michael Carraher

    Not exclusively the domain of print media: Remember radio? Print lost its exclusivity in 1938 with the Sudeten Crisis and Anchluss, Kaltenborn in New York and Murrow and Shirer in Europe (among others). In 1963, TV was still one big box in the home and most people first heard that Kennedy had been shot from Dallas Townsend, Morgan Beatty or Don Gardiner.

  3. Adaline Collins-Muns

    I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in bed with walking pneumonia. I didn’t believe anyone would shoot the president. It took a while for it to sink in. A sad sad time in my life.

  4. Mike Smith

    This page should be required for those that are considering going into our profession. I’ve always admired the people behind the scenes.

  5. John Coleman

    There’s an interesting article here by reporter Kate Ryan, who’s father was Bill Ryan. She talks about her brothers, sisters, and mother watching their father on TV during that weekend. http://wtop.com/news/2013/11/off-the-8s-watching-dad-deliver-the-news-the-president-had-been-killed/

  6. Don Newbury

    My favorite footage is of a tv reporter in Dallas. I never did learn his name but he was, I think the first one to interview Abraham Zapruder on that day. There he is, no makeup, smoking like a fiend, looking like he was on the verge of a breakdown but keeping things together in spite of it all. Very compelling.

  7. Kevin Jones

    While watching the NBC footage I noticed that Frank McGee, Chet Huntly and David Brinkley kept stating that JFK’s term ends in January 1964, not 65.

  8. Eyesofageneration.com

    For me, that was a sad, and embarrassing day. I was in the 7th grade in Atlanta, and when Mrs. Barbarre gave us the news, half of the boys in my class jumped up and cheered. A few yelled they were glad that n****r lover was dead. I was shocked. It is something I will never forget, although I wish I could.

  9. Larry McClish

    Our nation lost one of it’s greatest leaders ever that day. I was nine years old. Our country’s history was forever changed after 11/22/63.

  10. Kevin Jones

    Currently viewing Chet Huntley, Frank McGee,David Brinkley on NBC. Via YouTube.Never have seen this footage before.

  11. David Ferry

    Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it.

  12. Kevin Jones

    I was in 2nd grade, a radio broadcast,of the news accounts out of Dallas, was broadcast over the school’s PA system.

  13. Stan Kellam

    They don’t make ’em like Walter any more.

  14. Dexter Lovrien

    From back in the days when you could trust the news. If Walter said so…it was true.

  15. Gary Walters

    Television had flexed it’s wings with live, non stop coverage of events previously, with political conventions and early space shots. The Assassination of President Kennedy put the stamp on it, especially in how to keep quiet and let the images tell the story.

  16. John Ihrig

    I have in the past often said about that sad, sad time, that no matter what you may think about them, the Beatles helped bring some joy to help us to help cope.

  17. Joseph Lojko

    My birthday was the next day,kinda put a kink in the celebration..10th BD.

  18. Jon Dutcher

    While November 22 is quickly becoming a footnote in history, for me it will always be about 1963. Those days are etched in my memory forever.

  19. Charlie King

    Something you can never forget. I was in the control room at KFDA-TV Channel 10, in Amarillo, Texas.

  20. Jeoff C. Bristow

    Thank You for posting this today.

  21. Marc Wielage

    The best part of the story was from Dan Rather, who was inside the hospital. He was on hold with a CBS producer, and Dan told the guy he had just seen a priest enter the President’s room, and people were crying as they exited. As a result, he told the phone producer that most likely JFK was dead. In seconds, this was announced on the air before it could be confirmed, and Rather went into shock, convinced he’d just blown his entire career. As luck would have it, they confirmed five minutes later, allowing CBS to scoop every other network by several minutes. From Rather’s autobio THE CAMERA NEVER BLINKS.

  22. Don DeWald

    I remember it just like it was yesterday. I was a senior in high school.

  23. Ben Okuly

    3 years ago for the 50th anniversary CBS streamed their coverage starting with the soap that was on and all the way through when the network returned to regular programming 4 or 5 days later. I watched from the start through the announcement and even though now you know what happened it was still gripping and emotional.

  24. Bill Gorman

    I clearly remember “Uncle Walter” choking up when he made the announcement on live TV that JFK was gone.

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