Analysis of the John Kennedy Assassination - Research Paper Example

JFK’s Assassination and How It Changed Television News Broadcast Research Paper Introduction From the moment Walter Cronkite announced that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been assassinated, the course of mass media has forever been changed in ways that no one could have imagined.1 The tragedy that happened over fifty years ago was historical not only in the political scene but also in broadcast communication. Though much has changed since then, the fundamental principles of journalism during Cronkite’s time remain relevant. The mobile phone rampantly used today was yet to be introduced that the Universal Press International’s (UPI) machine was the closest thing they had to resemble the current smartphone. The sheer emotion and rawness of the coverage appealed to people’s senses that brought the people closer to the news. It was also by no means dismissible that at the heart of the breaking news were America’s affable and media-savvy president and the grief-stricken first family devastated by a tragedy. Overnight, the mostly newspaper-reading and radio-listening nation has turned their attention to their television sets to get a blow-by-blow update of the latest news. Merriman Smith, a United Press International (UPI) newsman, was riding in the presidential press pool car just behind JFK’s limousine on that fateful day in Dallas when they heard three loud shots. The second and third sound made it unmistakable that they came from gunshots. Smith immediately grabbed hold of the car’s radio phone and contacted the UPI headquarters to deliver the news update. Cronkite, inside the CBS studio in New York, was just informed of the president’s assassination coming across through the UPI teletype machine. As Cronkite’s news team breaks the station’s regular programming to deliver the assassination news unsure of the president’s condition, Smith was in Parkland Hospital with more breaking story. Smith informs UPI that President Kennedy has died at 1:00pm. Breaking the soap opera slot, Cronkite emotionally delivers the news.2 Smith rushed to the office and fed the whole world with the news through the five bells that rang on the recipient UPI machine to indicate the urgency and weight of the message. Walter Cronkite was a close confidant of Smith’s. He knew exactly what Smith meant by the message fed to the world in such a short span of time. Cronkite took to the television immediately, putting a break to the ongoing programs. He had to go on audio, as the available camera was slow at loading images. Cronkite became the most trusted person in America at that time.3 From the time of Cronkite, the media has evolved and continues to evolve. There is no doubt that important historic events helped shape media practice in terms of how they cover the news and the same lessons reverberate to this day. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 shifted the focus on television’s coverage of news. In the 1960s, journalist decades ago aspire to become newspaper men and radio personalities than television news anchors before Kennedy was assassinated.4 The television was perceived only as a medium of entertainment and not a main source for news. However, the way in which Kennedy’s assassination was handled depicted the unimaginable power of television. Television broadcast did what radio and newspaper could not: capturing the incident moment after the other. Replay was possible that allowed the emphasis on information and enabled subsequent viewing for those who had missed previous airings. Live reports straight from the hospital where Kennedy lay were aired only minutes apart. Kennedy’s assassin was also shown on air immediately after he was apprehended. Television generated moving images that doesn’t compare to mere photographs in newspapers. Radio broadcast also attempted to grab the audiences’ attention but people simply preferred the vigorous telecast on TV. Overall, the age of television news was born at Kennedy’s death and it was just the beginning. Following Kennedy’s assassination, several events have occurred that paint the picture of changes in media coverage. Specific events within the succeeding ten-year period allude much to this fact. In 1968, an unprecedented thing happened. While reporting that news, Cronkite departed from straight news reporting, something that rarely happened. He spoke all he had to say from his heart. Cronkite discussed that the Vietnam War could only end in a stalemate. He clarified that the war could not be won.5 Following his success as a trusted anchorman after his coverage of the Kennedy assassination, Cronkite became vocal of his opposition to the war. This was unthinkable during that time since news anchors were expected to only report the news without showing bias or divulging the their personal opinions. Through this, Cronkite helped shape the opinion of Americans over the Vietnam War. Today, it is not uncommon for media personalities to broadcast their opinions on their respective shows. Nevertheless, Cronkite was keen at conducting sufficient investigations before delivering to the public his views. Then in 1974, journalism was again a pivotal medium that created history when President Richard Nixon resigned from office. The trend of investigative journalism reached the summit through the works of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post. The duo hotly pursued illegal practices in which President Nixon was involved in which eventually led to his resignation following the Watergate investigation. They spent many years preparing and scrutinizing sources for validity with the help of the newspaper owner and editors. This was depicted in the film All the President’s Men and its accompanying book which etched Woodward and Bernstein in history.6 They showed how far media practitioners are willing to go to capture news stories that can shake the world. The film and the book heightened the eagerness of journalists who saw the value of conducting in-depth investigations before publishing reports. This was considered by many as the birth of modern investigative journalism.7 In 1979, the hostage crisis in Iran unleashed a new type of news programming in television. America’s history holds a wide range of political crises, though most of these do not involve war. However, the Iran Crisis paralyzed America as it caught everyone’s attention. The Iran militia took hold of 52 Americans in addition to seizing the United States Embassy located in Tehran. Most television viewers expressed the need to watch longer coverage of the news beyond the usual periods TV stations allocated. These pressures forced ABC News to introduce a late-night program to air extra news. This program eventually became the Nightline. Most people take such programs as this for granted these days but nightly news were not available back then. A year after this, CNN was born and the 24-hour news channel came into existence.8 This shows how news and its extensive coverage have significantly evolved since the coverage of JFK’s assassination. Literature Review Boomgaarden and de Vreese’s Real-world Events and Public Opinion Dynamics: Media Coverage and its Impact on Public Reactions to an Assassination examine the link between media coverage of tragic events and the shaping of public opinion. The article goes into a detailed analysis of tragic situations specifically focusing on assassinations. The direction of these analyses is to depict how the media approached the situation and to relate the same to how public perception can be formed. The researchers also covered the Kennedy assassination by regarding it as one of the largest incidences of assassination ever witnessed in the world’s history.9 This article is crucial to the topic of this research as it lays firm ground for understanding the different perspectives of assassination and how the media approaches such situations. In turn, this would give an insight into the Kennedy scenario thereby facilitating a proper analysis of the trajectory of media development. David Culbert’s article is geared more towards diplomacy than journalism. However, there are crucial things that bear significant importance to the Kennedy assassination. The article stresses on the weight of propaganda as a means of shaping public opinion, especially propaganda that emanate from the government. The author starts from the point that although many people dismiss propaganda as total lies, the same have proven useful in certain incidences. In the Kennedy situation, broadcast media was at an infantile stage that there was yet to be guidelines and principles for journalists to follow. People were only starting to realize the impact of television and people found it hard to rely entirely on media reports. Word of mouth was useful modes of passing on news and information. Culbert emphasizes that propaganda should not be ruled as wholly a negative aspect of broadcasting. Rather, it should be scrutinized extensively before dismissing it completely. Certain propaganda needs more than just news and media participation to achieve its end goals.10 The article is relevant for the present study as it relates to how propaganda was used as an important means during Kennedy’s time. This also pertains to what is currently happening in this age of information technology and sophisticated media forms. Peter Knight’s The Kennedy Assassination is an authoritative book on the incident. It is quite extensive and covers all aspects of the assassination, including the media aspect. This book offers insight to researchers and students who wish to study the American culture and history. Concurrently, it offers resourceful information on the details of media coverage that followed the Kennedy assassination, which is the focus of this study.11 The book will provide sufficient material on the events that transpired during the assassination and how the media responded to them. A proper discussion of the pertinent issues of the topic must be founded on a firm idea regarding the essential features of the assassination. Therefore, this book is an asset to this research process. Herskovitz’s article on the Huffington Post is quite illustrative of the events that transpired during Kennedy’s assassination and how the media took part in presenting the information to Americans and the world. The author argued that the assassination incident caused a mass media revolution that had never before been witnessed in America’s history. The manner in which the incident was covered through the days reverberated to media coverage in events that followed the assassination.12 This article illuminates on the media changes since the Kennedy’s assassination and is beneficial for this study. Barney’s article on San Jose Mercury News, Kennedy assassination: How it Changed TV Forever, is yet another informative article that brings a wealth of insight into the events of the assassination’s coverage. It emphasizes on the media developments that have since been witnessed, referring to major events that followed including the Vietnam War and the resignation of President Nixon. The article emphasizes on the need for investigative journalism for practitioners to ensure they are providing the public credible information. The author argues that investigations are necessary for the establishment of truthfulness. This investigative technique has since been adopted by most journalists as lessons from the Kennedy assassination.13 The article, therefore, is essential to this study in tracking the media changes that followed thereafter. Briggs and Burke’s Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet unravels the beginnings of mass media, taking note of the changes that have occurred in terms of internet socialization. The authors dig deeper into the implications of these changes on society and how it affects the dissemination of information. At the center of their argument is the fact that media developments are influencing social knowledge and interactions in a great way.14 This book has a bearing on the topic as it helps understand the current state of the media and its impact on people. Chun and Keenan made comparisons between the old and new forms of media. This book entitled New Media, Old Media: A History and Theory Reader is very useful in this research as it will guide the analysis of the media trends that have taken place since Kennedy’s assassination, relating the same to current practices within the media. The contrast answers questions posted by the researchers. The authors provide that without the historical and prominent events covered by the news, including the difficulties they experienced to be able to deliver them, there could be little progress in the media.15 Audah and Covington expound on the efforts of the foregoing authors by providing a particular analysis of television in mass communication. They single out all dominant media forms currently employed by people by analyzing their application and the impact they have on the dissemination of information. The TV of today, for instance, is different from the TV of Kennedy’s time.16 These variations are an important point of focus in the current study, hence, making this book resourceful. McBride and Rosenstiel take an important and often disregarded aspect of journalism. They note down the recommended ethical practices in the field of journalism. Journalists of today are regulated by government agencies and organization unlike journalists of Kennedy’s time.17 The differences in ethics help understand why the journalists during Kennedy’s time could do things that current journalists cannot do and vice versa. These differences are crucial to this study and will shed light on the developments that have taken place so far. Pulford, a journalist himself, painted out the picture of the experiences at the field in his career.18 Understanding journalism as a profession and what journalists go through is essential to this research. It will enable a comparison of the life of journalists at Kennedy’s time and the periods that followed. Gidreta’s Development Journalism: Acceptability and Implementation expounds on the practice of journalism and the account of other authors regarding the developments in the profession. He argues that massive changes have taken place in the last couple of decades. There are now regulations that limit journalists’ accessibility to certain places. The author focuses on the implementation of such policies and the impact they have on journalism as a profession.19 These facts are crucial for the present study as they contribute to the understanfding of changes that have occurred in the field of news reporting since the 1960s. Lastly, Dell’Orto provides a comprehensive breakdown on the developments in journalism, specifically in America. He relates the changes through time. His area of study runs from the 1950s to the current digital age.20 The book will be valuable in interpreting the changes that have occurred in news reporting throughout the periods as previously mentioned in this paper. Analysis The 1960s was a pivotal time in the shift in culture of America. More and more households are beginning to acquire their own television sets. But it was utilized more as an entertainment device rather than a source of the news. This all changed with the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was a young and popular president who the people relate to as the embodiment of the American dream together with his picture-perfect family. With his ascent to the office, the White House became an interesting place that people ascribe a sense of wonder to it. Words such as Camelot were used to describe it as a reference to the legendary King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table of literature. Pictures of the young family with the cordial president at the center were common sights in magazines and newspapers, much to the delight of readers. Then in that one fateful afternoon in Dallas, all eyes turned to the news with the occurrence of JFK’s assassination. Abruptly cutting off the telecast of a daytime soap opera, As The World Turns, a logo appears of the CBS News Bulletin. Then a voiceover states crudely that three shots were fired on the motorcade of President Kennedy and that he is seriously injured with nothing but the CBS News Bulletin logo on the background. This was similar to the radio broadcast of ABC which shortly announced that shots had been fired on the President’s convoy.21 CBS goes back to its regular programming but was again cut out with no one less than Walter Cronkite showing a picture of the incident and asking the cameraman to zoom in on it. The background of the newsroom showed that there was no time to prepare for it with papers scattered on the desks and a couple other men working on the backdrop. Then, arguably Cronkite’s most famous television moment transpired. The official statement that as he announces that President Kennedy has died, Cronkite takes off his glasses and looks presumably at a clock to provide the Eastern Standard Time counterpart.22 He pauses for a full five seconds to collect himself and almost fails repeatedly to look directly at the camera. The broadcast showed resemblance to a person bearing bad news to another’s family. It was as if Walter Cronkite cannot look at the people who are watching him and the news he had just delivered. It showed that he had been shocked and was equally emotional as every other American at that particular moment. His manner of removing his glasses and then putting it back on again and repeating this indicated that he did not quite know what to do. Further, he was almost croaking with his voice on the verge of breaking in the beginning of the report. But he kept his composure, consistent with a good anchorman, and delivered the news just as he was supposed to. He continued by saying that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson has left Dallas and that this would probably lead to him taking the oath of office to assume his place as successor to the presidency.23 Throughout these final seconds, Cronkite did not look directly to the camera and, just as the professional that he was, continued with his spiel although he almost looked like he was tearing up. The New York Times’ headline on November 23, 1963 read, “KENNEDY IS KILLED BY SNIPER AS HE RIDES IN CAR IN DALLAS; JOHNSON SWORN IN ON PLANE,” and yes, it was all caps. Shortly after JFK’s death, Vice President Johnson was sworn in to the presidency attended by Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy who was still wearing the blood-splattered dress she had on the motorcade. “Mr. Johnson made no statement. He embraced Mrs. Kennedy and she held his hand for a long moment. He also embraced Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Evelyn Lincoln, Mr. Kennedy’s private secretary.”24 The reports made on the assassination were blow by blow accounts that focused on every possible aspect leading up to the event and everything else after it. These include the names of the streets, the clothes they wore, the order of the motorcade, and the reaction of the people amongst many other details. An important piece in the assassination was a video footage caught by Abraham Zapruder. “The Russian immigrant, who once lived in Brooklyn, carried a top-of-the-line 8mm Bell & Howell Model 414 PD camera.”25 This footage has become the basis of the investigations that aimed at figuring out exactly what happened during that precise moment. This has also become the famous video reel which showed the transition of the events during the motorcade and what happened to the president. Richard Stolley, editor of LIFE Magazine, was able to facilitate how the magazine was able to obtain the video and the rights for it. Stolley says that Zapruder was the sole person who captured the entire event of the gun shooting from beginning up to the end although there others filming at that exact same moment. This was decisive on why LIFE was pleased to acquire the home-made video.26 Consequently, the funeral was an event that compelled people to tune in. It was covered live by television stations such as CBS. All the events were shown on air that commemorated the life of JFK up to his final resting place. The procession showed the faces of the people mourning for the President. The CBS news coverage also reported the entire occasion such as the marching of the different units of soldiers followed by legions of cars. The crowd stood by on the sides of the streets describing them as having waited all night as they bid a final gaze to the fallen president. The state funeral was something to watch as they passed by every street. The coffin, covered by a state flag, is placed on horse-drawn carriage and a sailor closely follows carrying a flag bearing the seal of the United States president. The capital was highlighted on the coverage and the Washington landmarks appeared several times in transition.27 The effect of the assassination had vast repercussions not only on the first family but even more so on the state of affairs of the nation. The national security was a major concern since the assassination of the head of state indicates that it had been compromised. Similarly, the foreign relations of the country will have to be addressed especially considering that President Kennedy had been tirelessly working on diplomatic solutions to alarming security threats. Years later, news of international significance once again grabbed the attention of the entire nation. The Vietnam War, gaining reputation as a war that cannot be won by the United States has created conflict within the country. Walter Cronkite, now established in his impeccable reputation following his reportage of the JFK assassination, has decided to air his own opinion of what could be the outcome of the war being fought on international terrain. He asserts that the notion that the United States is either winning or losing is misplaced but that the reality is that the best possible scenario is a stalemate. He declares, “But it is increasingly clear to this report that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victims, but as an honorable people,” as he signs off.28 These resounding words impacted many Americans torn because of the war. This report has departed from the usual standards of reporting where the anchorman should only state the news without adding anything to it. As a broadcaster, his job is only to deliver the news and refrain from being the news or in creating news. Nevertheless, the confidence of Cronkite to impart his own views and prediction of the Vietnam War led to the awakening of people to abandon notions of grandeur that the country can win every war. His dissension from the war paved the way for thousands to be saved as claimed by Mitchell in his article. This same pronouncement by Cronkite was also crucial in Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson’s withdrawal from the presidential race as he claims losing Cronkite meant he had lost grasp with America’s middleclass.29 Walter Cronkite’s decades as a veteran journalist has allowed him to gain a status as a trusted media personality and his fearless declarations of personal viewpoints has changed the course of broadcast journalism. Conclusion The literature review discussed above contains exhaustive information on the topic under research. The primary resources for this purpose would be the two journal articles and online sources. Knight’s book will also be instrumental as a primary source. The other books will serve as secondary sources to the research. In the course of the research, the video footages of Walter Cronkite and how he delivered the news were stimulating in understanding how television news broadcast has changed over the years. Today, there are countless news programs where newscasters are no longer limited to reading the news from their prompts. Thought-provoking shows which encourage debate and allow extensive discussion where the host can air their own opinions are commonplace. But it must be remembered that this had not always been the case. More importantly, about half a century ago, television was mainly for entertainment purposes such as watching soap operas and variety shows. The source of news still mainly devolved to print publication such as the newspapers. However, the immediacy of television and how riveting stories such as the JFK assassination can be shown in real time and where emotions are so much more evident propelled this medium to the height of its success in journalism. Television news broadcast has changed significantly in the past few decades because of the gravity of JFK’s assassination and its impact on the interest that people showed. Bibliography "Bulletin." ABC Radio. 23 Nov. 1963. Radio. Accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAp4PR4KpEc "Live Coverage of The State Funeral of President Kennedy." CBS News. 25 Nov. 1963. Radio. Accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnOERkKYyAY Audah, Jabbar and Covington, William. Broadcast, Internet, and TV Media in the Arab World and Small Nations: Studies in Recent Developments. London: Pearson, 2010. 22-108. Barney, Chuck. “Kennedy assassination: how it changed TV forever.” San Jose Mercury News, 2013. Accessed at http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_24557411/kennedy-assassination-how-it-changed-tv-forever Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. All the Presidents Men. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974. Boomgaarden, Hajo G. and De Vreese, Claes. “Real-world Events and Public Opinion Dynamics: Media Coverage and its Impact on Public Reactions to an Assassination.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 19.3 (2007): 354-366. Briggs, Asa and Burke, Peter. Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet. New York: Routledge, 2010. 45-300. Brennen, Bonnie. “Sweat Not Melodrama: Reading the structure of feeling in All the President’s Men,” Journalism 4, no.1 (2003): 115-133. Accessed at http://www.ijpc.org/uploads/files/watergate.pdf Chun, Wendy and Keenan, Thomas. New Media, Old Media: A History and Theory Reader. New York: Routledge, 2005. 112-401. Cronkite, Walter. “CBS News Bulletin.” 22 Nov. 1963. Television. Accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PXORQE5-CY ---. "Evening News." 27 Feb. 1968. Television. Accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn4w-ud-TyE Culbert, David. “Public Diplomacy and The International History of Mass Media: The USIA, The Kennedy Assassination, and The World.” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 30.3 (2010): 421-432. Dell’Orto, Giovanna. American Journalism and International Relations: Foreign Correspondence from the Early Republic to the Digital. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 1-290. Folkerts, Jean and Teeter, Dwight. Voices of a Nation: A History of Mass Media in the United States. (5th Edition). London: Pearson, 2008. 15-499. Gidreta, Abdulaziz. Development Journalism: Acceptability and Implementation. London: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 30-88. Goodykoontz, Bill. “Iran, Gulf War Led to ABC, CNN Revolutions in News Coverage,” AZCentral, 14 January 2011, http://archive.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/20110114nightline-cnn-abc-war-american-hostages-news-gulf-iran-tv-coverage.html Herskovitz, Jon. How John F. Kennedy Assassination Changed Media Coverage Forever. The Huffington Post, 2014. Accessed at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/jfk-assassination-media-changed_n_4317803.html Knight, Peter. The Kennedy Assassination. Mississippi: Universal Press of Mississippi, 2007. 1-160. Mitchell, Greg. “Cronkites 1968 Dissent on Vietnam Helped Save Thousands of Lives.” The Huffington Post, 1969. Accessed at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/cronkites-1968-dissent-on_b_238788.html McBride, Kelly and Rosenstiel, Tom. The New Ethics of Journalism: Principles for the 21st Century. London: CQ Press, 2013. 18-200. McShane, Larry. "Kennedy Assassinated." The Daily News, November 23, 1963, Accessed at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/jfk-assassination-article- 1.1515624 ed. Pulford, Cedric. Journalism My Way: An Offbeat Life in the Media. Hoboken: John Willey & Sons, 2012. 105-177. Rogers, Tony. “How Walter Cronkite and Merriman Smith told the World of Kennedys Assassination.” About News, n.d. Accessed at http://journalism.about.com/od/profiles/fl/How-Walter-Cronkite-and-Merriman-Smith-told-the-World-of-Kennedys-Assassination.htm Time Magazine, “Kennedys Assassination How LIFE Brought the Zapruder Film to Light.” 2013. Television. Accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zsk4DSzQ2s Wicker, Tom. “Kennedy Is Killed by Sniper As He Rides In Car In Dallas; Johnson Sworn in on Plane.” New York Times, November 23, 1963. Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/john-f-kennedy-assassination-coverage/issue.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar Read More