Kennedy Assassination Over the Years Essay

It might have been the combination of the right timing with this new satellite technology and this horrific event of the President being shot that changed the public interest in complete, live, and around the clock coverage.

The fact that television at that time could bring powerful images of what was happening in the world and could make the incident seem like a local event that was happening in their own home town, was a new concept.

It was also television that brought to the public the first live presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. Approximately 60% of the households viewed the three debates -- around 60 million people out of a total population of 179 million at that time. Kennedy was the first President that most people felt they had a personal connection with, all because of live TV.

So after the assassination the public couldn't get enough information fast enough. Americans glued themselves to the television and other available media to hear, see, feel, and experience the event because of the interest they had in Kennedy and because of the coverage that was available.

Another reason it was such a large media event was that most Americans weren't even alive the last time a president was assassinated. It had been 62 years since President William McKinley was shot in office. Americans were in shock and disbelief that this could happen in the current times, with all of the precautions of secret service. Conclusions So in the same decade as the assassination of Kennedy, many of the significant events of the 1960's had all appeared live on television including the Vietnam War, the first Super Bowl, and the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon. As Martin Luther King led the march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital in Montgomery, the television cameras brought the story to life. The news media could deliver current news events, help shape public opinion, and for the first time could unite the American's people in great times of sorrow, tragedy, anticipation, and enjoyment. Television would continue to evolve in the 1970s to the current times, with around the clock cable new shows. Cable News Network (CNN) was the first 24-hour cable television news program in 1980. In April 2009, approximately 58 million viewers watched the top 20 cable news programs alone and approximately 114 million people watch news shows in general. Bibliography "JFK: Breaking The News." n.d. KERA Productions. 27 May 2009 . "Television news ." n.d. media in the 1960. 27 May 2009 . Zelizer, Barbie. "Covering the Body." n.d. American Experience PBS. 28 May 2009 ......