March 30th, 1981: TV Coverage Of The Reagan Shooting

[Joseph_Gallant]

Twenty-five years ago today, Monday, March 30th, 1981, President Ronald Reagan (who had been inaugurated just ten weeks beforehand) was shot and wounded after leaving the Washington Hilton hotel, where he had made a speech.

That day, ABC, CBS and NBC broke into regular programming shortly after 2:30 P.M. EST, and aired nonstop coverage until about 9 P.M. EST, at which time the President was out of danger. That night, both the Academy Awards and the NCAA Division 1 men's basketball championship game were scheduled to take place. The NCAA's were held as scheduled; the Oscars were postponed a few days.

For a young Dan Rather, who was starting his fourth week as anchor of the "CBS Evening News", it was his first experience as prime anchor for a breaking-news story on network television. Had this incident happened as recently as four weeks earlier, Walter Cronkite would have been in the CBS anchor chair.

The best-remembered network broadcast was ABC's, due in large part to anchor Frank Reynolds' memorable remark when there were conflicting reports as to whether Press Secretary Jim Brady, who was also shot, was dead or alive. At one point, Reynolds (in an angry tone) urged his newsroom staff "Let's Get This Thing Nailed Down, Please! Let's Get This Thing Right!".

I did not see much of NBC's coverage that day (I watched mostly ABC and a little of CBS), but I seem to think that John Chancellor anchored, assisted by Edwin Newman. Had this incident taken place a year later, Tom Brokaw and not Chancellor would have anchored NBC's coverage.

Also, Chancellor, Newman and Rather were in New York; Reynolds was in Washington, where he did his portion of "World News Tonight" each weeknight. If my memory serves me correct, the old ABC News bureau was on DeSales Street (a block from the current home of the network's D.C. bureau) and in turn a block or two from the hotel outside which the shooting took place. I seem to recall White House correspondent Sam Donaldson ran the block from the hotel to the news bureau to get on the air.

Click here to launch a video presentation from ABC News' website containing fifteen minutes of excerpts of their coverage from March 30th, 1981. You will not hear Reynolds yelling "Let's Get This Thing Nailed Down!...", but you will see and hear extended clips from the network's mid-afternoon coverage, around the time that it was confirmed that President Reagan, in fact, was hit by a bullet.

VCR's were becoming a mass-marketed product by 1981 (although I did not get my first VCR until August of 1984). I suspect that afternoon, once they heard the news, there were at least a few people who grabbed a blank tape, put it into the VCR, and started recording the coverage, with the tape(s) becoming family heirlooms.

What are your memories of TV coverage from March 30th, 1981??

 

[Stanislav]

As I mentioned in a recent thread, I have a few hours of the coverage of this event (from ABC and CBS) that I traded for many years ago. But I also watched it live that day.

There was much that day that was almost in the realm of the bizarre. Not just Reynolds' infamous "outburst," but Alexander Haig's nervous "I'm in charge here" pronouncement, the very testy exchanges between Larry Speakes and the press, and the premature announcement of James Brady's death. It was not the finest hour for the Reagan White House in terms of public relations.

The Frank Reynolds incident is well-known, and justifiably so -- can you think of any other breaking news coverage in which an otherwise professional TV newsman so totally "loses his cool" that way? For those of you unfamiliar with the incident, the background is as follows. Janes Brady, Reagan's Press Secretary, had been gravely wounded in the shooting, taking a bullet in the head. All 3 networks had reported Brady as dead, largely because of an offhand remark by a White House staffer. When asked by a reporter off-air if Brady would survive, he had injudiciously replied, "He's dead" with a wave of his hand. He really meant it in the sense of "He's as good as dead" because the wound was so severe that no one, including the doctors working on him, expected him to survive. But it was taken as official confirmation, and put on the air by all three networks.

When it became apparent that this report was, to say the least, premature and, to say the most, dead wrong, Reynolds went bananas. He suddenly appeared noticeably upset and, looking around at staffers in the background, angrily burst out:

"Let's get it NAILED DOWN...somebody...let's find out! Let's get it straight so we can report this thing accurately!"

The fact is, all through that afternoon, Reynolds seemed very uncomfortable and nervous -- grimacing, wringing his hands, struggling to find words. As esteemed a journalist as he was, for whatever reason he was just not up to the task that day. After his "outburst," ABC went to a taped report and, when they returned, suddenly Ted Koppel had joined Reynolds on camera. The transparently dubious reason given on-air was that one could be gathering information while the other is talking to the viewers, but the timing all but seals the fact that he was brought in hastily to spell Reynolds on camera and perhaps act as a calming influence on him.

By contrast, Rather did fairly well in what had to be a monumentally challenging situation for someone so new to the anchor chair. He was very good about contrasting what was known and what was rumor, and while some of his correspondents were very transparent in their frustration at the lack of confirming information coming from the White House (Lesley Stahl, in particular, having a very testy exchange with Larry Speakes, acting as Press Secretary as Brady was incapacitated), Rather was very diplomatic on-air, especially as regards the Haig remarks (more about that in a moment).

The White House acted like Keystone Kops that afternoon -- no one seemed to have a handle on the situation, and with Reagan in surgery and Vice-President Bush on a plane returning from Texas, they were reluctant to release information without somebody's OK. They would not even publicly confirm for a couple of hours that Reagan was in surgery, even though reporters had already confirmed that fact via hospital sources.

The Haig remarks were chilling -- here was a high-ranking official in the Reagan cabinet suddenly appearing on camera -- nervous, dry-mouthed, sweating profusely, and looking like he was about to come unglued -- procliming "I am in charge here" (at the White House). (I remembering thinking at the time, "Oh, great, just what we need now -- a coup d'etat"). He then justifying his remark by condescendingly pointing out to the reporters that "constitutionally....gentlemen....you have the President, then the Vice-President, then the Secretary of State...." Of course, any high school civics student could have told him he was dead wrong, aa the line of succession goes through the Speaker of the House and the President Pro-Tem of the Senate before reaching the Secretary of State. Not to mention the fact that the line of succession has to do with who assumes the duties of the Presidency -- not who is "in charge" temporarily at a particular location.

Dan Rather was very diplomatic about Haig's remarks. His raised eyebrows did telegraph a certain astonishment at the situation, but he merely repeated what Haig said, and then added, somewhat tounge-in-cheek, "he...um...might get some argument on that from consitutional scholars, but more about that later."

A footnote to that day's events: at 9 pm EST the networks resumed regular programming once Reagan was out of surgery and, presumably, out of danger. CBS had scheduled a new episode of "M*A*S*H" at that time, but quickly substituted a repeat of an earlier episode. Why? Well, the episode schduled to run involved Charles having a close brush with death when a sniper's bullet passes through his hat and nearly kills him. The similarity of the plot to what had just transpired was too strong, and in the interest of taste, CBS postponed that episode.

I highly recommend the book "The President Has Been Shot: Confusion, Disability, and the 25th Ammendment in the Aftermath of the Attempted Assassination of Ronald Reagan" by Herbert Abrams. It goes into much more detail about the behind the scenes confusion and conflict in the White House that afternoon, as well as documenting that Reagan had been much closer to dying than most people realized, and was much more incapacitated for months after the shooting than the carefully crafted public image implied.

 

[bpatrick]

> >
> The Frank Reynolds incident is well-known, and justifiably
> so -- can you think of any other breaking news coverage in
> which an otherwise professional TV newsman so totally "loses
> his cool" that way? For those of you unfamiliar with the
> incident, the background is as follows. Janes Brady,
> Reagan's Press Secretary, had been gravely wounded in the
> shooting, taking a bullet in the head. All 3 networks had
> reported Brady as dead, largely because of an offhand remark
> by a White House staffer. When asked by a reporter off-air
> if Brady would survive, he had injudiciously replied, "He's
> dead" with a wave of his hand. He really meant it in the
> sense of "He's as good as dead" because the wound was so
> severe that no one, including the doctors working on him,
> expected him to survive. But it was taken as official
> confirmation, and put on the air by all three networks.
>
> When it became apparent that this report was, to say the
> least, premature and, to say the most, dead wrong, Reynolds
> went bananas. He suddenly appeared noticeably upset and,
> looking around at staffers in the background, angrily burst
> out:
>
> "Let's get it NAILED DOWN...somebody...let's find out! Let's
> get it straight so we can report this thing accurately!"
>
> The fact is, all through that afternoon, Reynolds seemed
> very uncomfortable and nervous -- grimacing, wringing his
> hands, struggling to find words. As esteemed a journalist
> as he was, for whatever reason he was just not up to the
> task that day. After his "outburst," ABC went to a taped
> report and, when they returned, suddenly Ted Koppel had
> joined Reynolds on camera. The transparently dubious reason
> given on-air was that one could be gathering information
> while the other is talking to the viewers, but the timing
> all but seals the fact that he was brought in hastily to
> spell Reynolds on camera and perhaps act as a calming
> influence on him.
>
> >
> Av Westin's book "Newswatch" says that Reynolds was under
personal stress that day; his son Dean, who was with CNN at
the time, was in the press party that was with Reagan when
the shooting occurred, and Reynolds was understandably on
edge until he learned that Dean was safe. Also, Reynolds was
a friend of James Brady and his family and, acccording to Westin,
was concerned about what Brady's parents might be going through
with all the conflicting reports. Reynolds never apologized for
his outburst; he felt that, under the circumstances, it was a
natural reaction.

 

[Stanislav]

> > Av Westin's book "Newswatch" says that Reynolds was under
> personal stress that day; his son Dean, who was with CNN at
> the time, was in the press party that was with Reagan when
> the shooting occurred, and Reynolds was understandably on
> edge until he learned that Dean was safe. Also, Reynolds was
> a friend of James Brady and his family and, acccording to
> Westin, was concerned about what Brady's parents might be going
> through with all the conflicting reports. Reynolds never apologized
> for his outburst; he felt that, under the circumstances, it was a
> natural reaction.


Oh, I agree, and even without that personal part of the equation that day, it is entirely understandable that Reynolds was upset -- he was a professional and took great pride in the product he put on the air -- it wasn't like today where every rumor, whisper, and bit of innuendo immediately goes out on all channels as "news." To prematurely report someone as deceased is one of the biggest mistakes a news organization can make.

It was rough for all the media, as even though most newspeople were not personal friends of James Brady, they had all grown to like him, in spite of their traditional animosity towards White House press secretaries. Brady's irreverent humor, winning smile, and easy manner ingratiated him to the press corps, even when they knew he was BSing them or witholding information. It was said that day that when Brady was mistakenly announced as dead, many reporters in the room gasped, and some wept openly -- a reaction not many press secretaries' demise would have elicited.

 

[dgabenski]

> > > Av Westin's book "Newswatch" says that Reynolds was
> under
> > personal stress that day; his son Dean, who was with CNN
> at
> > the time, was in the press party that was with Reagan when
>
> > the shooting occurred, and Reynolds was understandably on
> > edge until he learned that Dean was safe. Also, Reynolds
> was
> > a friend of James Brady and his family and, acccording to
> > Westin, was concerned about what Brady's parents might be
> going
> > through with all the conflicting reports. Reynolds never
> apologized
> > for his outburst; he felt that, under the circumstances,
> it was a
> > natural reaction.
>
>
> Oh, I agree, and even without that personal part of the
> equation that day, it is entirely understandable that
> Reynolds was upset -- he was a professional and took great
> pride in the product he put on the air -- it wasn't like
> today where every rumor, whisper, and bit of innuendo
> immediately goes out on all channels as "news." To
> prematurely report someone as deceased is one of the biggest
> mistakes a news organization can make.
>
> It was rough for all the media, as even though most
> newspeople were not personal friends of James Brady, they
> had all grown to like him, in spite of their traditional
> animosity towards White House press secretaries. Brady's
> irreverent humor, winning smile, and easy manner ingratiated
> him to the press corps, even when they knew he was BSing
> them or witholding information. It was said that day that
> when Brady was mistakenly announced as dead, many reporters
> in the room gasped, and some wept openly -- a reaction not
> many press secretaries' demise would have elicited.
> I downloaded the footage last night, it took forever, but it was worth it. It is very true that reynolds was as professional as they come, however poor Sam Donaldson had to wonder if he was working with Frank Reynolds or Frank N. Stein. During the first five minutes of the thing, Reynolds went off at least twice, once when they found out reagan was hit, then again when an unseen "Staffer" was giving him an update on reagan's condition, he vehemently pointed his finger at the man and literally ordered the man to "SPEAK UP!!!" at almost the top of his voice.

I think looking back on it, Donaldson should have taken the chair from Reynolds since he was ABC chief white house correspondent at the time.

I have also seen NBC'S coverage of JFK's assassination which is available on the internet, and even though the events were spaced out over almost 20 years, NBC's coverage of that horrorific day was much better. First off, NBC could not establish a phone hook up to dallas for nearly 15 minutes, and frank mcgee had to repeat everything robert macneill was saying, secondly, NBC had trouble with tv hookups to dallas early-on in the broadcast, but none of the anchors in new york lost their temper, the anchors being Frank Mcgee Chet Huntley, and Bill Ryan. And lastly, when the word came down the Kennedy had died, there was no real emotion, they just passed on the news of his death, cut to Washington for an update from David Brinkley and then back to New York. Probably the most "emotional" scene if you will, was when NBC switched back to New york from Brinkley's report was that Huntley was not in the anchor chair after that replaced by Merrill Muller. Sorry for the long post but anyone who has a chance should access the broadcast at earthstation1.com then click on online media archives then look for the JFK section. Fascinating TV history.

 

[Stanislav]

> During the first five minutes of the thing, Reynolds
> went off at least twice, once when they found out reagan was
> hit, then again when an unseen "Staffer" was giving him an
> update on reagan's condition, he vehemently pointed his
> finger at the man and literally ordered the man to "SPEAK
> UP!!!" at almost the top of his voice.


There was also a moment in the full coverage when they were running a taped interview with an eyewitness, at the end of which a man (presumably SS or police) interrupts the witness and orders him not to talk to the press and takes him away. Reynolds was at first confused, and then almost indignant.

> I think looking back on it, Donaldson should have taken the
> chair from Reynolds since he was ABC chief white house
> correspondent at the time.


Well, no -- Reynolds was the anchorman, and belonged in the studio, and Donaldson belonged in the field where his job was. If you look at the overall scope of Reynolds' work over the years, 3/30/81 really sticks out as an anomaly -- it just wasn't a good day for him.

> I have also seen NBC'S coverage of JFK's assassination which
> is available on the internet, and even though the events
> were spaced out over almost 20 years, NBC's coverage of that
> horrorific day was much better. First off, NBC could not
> establish a phone hook up to dallas for nearly 15 minutes,
> and frank mcgee had to repeat everything robert macneill was
> saying.


Producing an almost comical moment when technicians produce an audio amplifier/speaker to be attached to the phone, and Huntley clearly is totally befuddled as to just what the hell he's supposed to do with the thing.

> Secondly, NBC had trouble with tv hookups to dallas
> early-on in the broadcast.....


Understandable, as in that era that kind of switch usually took hours of planning and setup, and they were trying to do it on the fly in a matter of minutes. (Still, though, CBS seemed to have no real problems switching to KRLD in Dallas that afternoon.) I liked Bill Ryan's humble apology for the first aborted switch to WBAP, confessing that they in New York were in a state of what he called "controlled panic."

(And DYN that the first 2 or 3 reports from WBAP were in color, though the network was only black and white? WBAP was one of the first stations in the country to have local live color and, later, color VT capabilities, and probably at that time were already broadcasting their local news in color, while the NBC network was still doing news in black and white. Someone must have gotten word to the techs at WBAP and they eventually dropped the colorburst from the signal they were feeding to New York.)

> And lastly, when the word came down
> the Kennedy had died, there was no real emotion, they just
> passed on the news of his death.....


There IS a very subtle, fleeting, and very human moment that you almost have to go frame-by-frame to see. When McGee is repeating MacNeil's report that Malcolm Kilduff had officially announced the President's death, at the moment when MacNeil is saying the word "died," McGee's face twists into a pained grimace. It only last a fraction of a second, but you can see it even in real time if you're looking for it.

> Probably the most "emotional" scene if you will, was when
> NBC switched back to New york from Brinkley's report was
> that Huntley was not in the anchor chair after that replaced
> by Merrill Muller.


You are likely referring to what is probably an urban legend. Many have written over the years that Huntley left air because he was emotionally overcome. In fact, he was likely just leaving to go and start preparatory work on the expanded special edition of "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" that ran that evening. (If you'll notice, at about the same time, Brinkley disappears from Washington-based coverage to be replaced by a series of correspondents.)

The one NBC man who showed real emotion on-air that day was Martin Agronsky, who at the end of his first report starts to get teary and choked-up and can barely squeak out "Back to New York" at the end of it. The others seem to have held up well. It's been reported that Bill Ryan, who was solid and professional on-air, went home that night and only then was finally hit by the enormity of what had happened and the stress of keeping his emotions in check all those hours, and broke down crying.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: November 22nd, 1963 And March 30th, 1981

Stanislav commented about November 22nd, 1963:

> Understandable, as in that era that kind of switch usually
> took hours of planning and setup, and they were trying to do
> it on the fly in a matter of minutes. (Still, though, CBS
> seemed to have no real problems switching to KRLD in Dallas
> that afternoon.)

Years later, I had read that CBS in fact had ordered an AT&T video hookup to Dallas that day. The network was planning to tape President Kennedy's speech at the Dallas Trade Mart and edit it for use as part of the "Evening News" that night, saving the time of developing and editing film, and also giving CBS the option---which they were seriously cosnidering---of broadcasting the speech live.


> (And DYN that the first 2 or 3 reports from WBAP were in
> color, though the network was only black and white? WBAP
> was one of the first stations in the country to have local
> live color and, later, color VT capabilities, and probably
> at that time were already broadcasting their local news in
> color, while the NBC network was still doing news in black
> and white. Someone must have gotten word to the techs at
> WBAP and they eventually dropped the colorburst from the
> signal they were feeding to New York.)

Based on the 1988 A&E rebroadcast of NBC's coverage of November 22nd, 1963 (which I have on tape), it seems to me that the first portion of the coverage was recorded on a color VTR. Perhaps later portions were only recorded on a black-and-white machine, meaning that further reports from studios in Dallas/Fort Worth may have been fed in color, but only preserved in black-and-white. Remember that many TV programs of the 1960's that were broadcast live or on tape in color exist today only as black-and-white tapes or kinescopes.

I think WBAP-5 (now KXAS) had color studios in both Dallas and Fort Worth then; Charles Murphy (who was later an ABC News correspondent) and Tom Whelan were both seen in the early part of the NBC coverage. Whalen identified hismelf as being in Fort Worth; I suspect Murphy was in Dallas (although in the clips, he didn't identify what city he was in). Maybe WBAP had a local newscast back then patterned after "Huntley/Brinkley" with two anchors in different cities, in WBAP's case, Dallas and Fort Worth.

Had this occured two years later, most of that weekend's coverage on all three networks would have been broadcast in color.

 

[dgabenski]

> > During the first five minutes of the thing, Reynolds
> > went off at least twice, once when they found out reagan
> was
> > hit, then again when an unseen "Staffer" was giving him an
>
> > update on reagan's condition, he vehemently pointed his
> > finger at the man and literally ordered the man to "SPEAK
> > UP!!!" at almost the top of his voice.
>
>
> There was also a moment in the full coverage when they were
> running a taped interview with an eyewitness, at the end of
> which a man (presumably SS or police) interrupts the witness
> and orders him not to talk to the press and takes him away.
> Reynolds was at first confused, and then almost indignant.
>
> > I think looking back on it, Donaldson should have taken
> the
> > chair from Reynolds since he was ABC chief white house
> > correspondent at the time.
>
>
> Well, no -- Reynolds was the anchorman, and belonged in the
> studio, and Donaldson belonged in the field where his job
> was. If you look at the overall scope of Reynolds' work
> over the years, 3/30/81 really sticks out as an anomaly --
> it just wasn't a good day for him.
>
Your point is very well taken, and from what i remember of frank reynolds there is no doubt that he was a consummate professional.

Since we were pretty much a CBS family, we didn't watch Reynolds very much. The main reason we were watching ABC at the time was because my mom was a general hospital nut. If you notice in ABC'S coverage, Donaldson was in studio shortly after the shooting with reynolds anyway so I guess my main thing is, since Donaldson was in studio with reynolds and since reynolds "lost it" as it were, why bring in koppel since donaldson was the presidential "expert"?
>
> I have also seen NBC'S coverage of JFK's assassination
> which
> > is available on the internet, and even though the events
> > were spaced out over almost 20 years, NBC's coverage of
> that
> > horrorific day was much better. First off, NBC could not
> > establish a phone hook up to dallas for nearly 15 minutes,
>
> > and frank mcgee had to repeat everything robert macneill
> was
> > saying.
>
>
> Producing an almost comical moment when technicians produce
> an audio amplifier/speaker to be attached to the phone, and
> Huntley clearly is totally befuddled as to just what the
> hell he's supposed to do with the thing.
>
> > Secondly, NBC had trouble with tv hookups to dallas
> > early-on in the broadcast.....
>
>
> Understandable, as in that era that kind of switch usually
> took hours of planning and setup, and they were trying to do
> it on the fly in a matter of minutes. (Still, though, CBS
> seemed to have no real problems switching to KRLD in Dallas
> that afternoon.) I liked Bill Ryan's humble apology for the
> first aborted switch to WBAP, confessing that they in New
> York were in a state of what he called "controlled panic."
>
> (And DYN that the first 2 or 3 reports from WBAP were in
> color, though the network was only black and white? WBAP
> was one of the first stations in the country to have local
> live color and, later, color VT capabilities, and probably
> at that time were already broadcasting their local news in
> color, while the NBC network was still doing news in black
> and white. Someone must have gotten word to the techs at
> WBAP and they eventually dropped the colorburst from the
> signal they were feeding to New York.)
>
> > And lastly, when the word came down
> > the Kennedy had died, there was no real emotion, they just
>
> > passed on the news of his death.....
>
>
> There IS a very subtle, fleeting, and very human moment that
> you almost have to go frame-by-frame to see. When McGee is
> repeating MacNeil's report that Malcolm Kilduff had
> officially announced the President's death, at the moment
> when MacNeil is saying the word "died," McGee's face twists
> into a pained grimace. It only last a fraction of a second,
> but you can see it even in real time if you're looking for
> it.
>
> > Probably the most "emotional" scene if you will, was when
> > NBC switched back to New york from Brinkley's report was
> > that Huntley was not in the anchor chair after that
> replaced
> > by Merrill Muller.
>
>
> You are likely referring to what is probably an urban
> legend. Many have written over the years that Huntley left
> air because he was emotionally overcome. In fact, he was
> likely just leaving to go and start preparatory work on the
> expanded special edition of "The Huntley-Brinkley Report"
> that ran that evening. (If you'll notice, at about the same
> time, Brinkley disappears from Washington-based coverage to
> be replaced by a series of correspondents.)
>
> The one NBC man who showed real emotion on-air that day was
> Martin Agronsky, who at the end of his first report starts
> to get teary and choked-up and can barely squeak out "Back
> to New York" at the end of it. The others seem to have held
> up well. It's been reported that Bill Ryan, who was solid
> and professional on-air, went home that night and only then
> was finally hit by the enormity of what had happened and the
> stress of keeping his emotions in check all those hours, and
> broke down crying.
>

 

[dgabenski]

Re: November 22nd, 1963 And March 30th, 1981

> Stanislav commented about November 22nd, 1963:
>
> > Understandable, as in that era that kind of switch usually
>
> > took hours of planning and setup, and they were trying to
> do
> > it on the fly in a matter of minutes. (Still, though, CBS
>
> > seemed to have no real problems switching to KRLD in
> Dallas
> > that afternoon.)
>
> Years later, I had read that CBS in fact had ordered an AT&T
> video hookup to Dallas that day. The network was planning to
> tape President Kennedy's speech at the Dallas Trade Mart and
> edit it for use as part of the "Evening News" that night,
> saving the time of developing and editing film, and also
> giving CBS the option---which they were seriously
> cosnidering---of broadcasting the speech live.
>
>
> > (And DYN that the first 2 or 3 reports from WBAP were in
> > color, though the network was only black and white? WBAP
> > was one of the first stations in the country to have local
>
> > live color and, later, color VT capabilities, and probably
>
> > at that time were already broadcasting their local news in
>
> > color, while the NBC network was still doing news in black
>
> > and white. Someone must have gotten word to the techs at
> > WBAP and they eventually dropped the colorburst from the
> > signal they were feeding to New York.)
>
> Based on the 1988 A&E rebroadcast of NBC's coverage of
> November 22nd, 1963 (which I have on tape), it seems to me
> that the first portion of the coverage was recorded on a
> color VTR. Perhaps later portions were only recorded on a
> black-and-white machine, meaning that further reports from
> studios in Dallas/Fort Worth may have been fed in color, but
> only preserved in black-and-white. Remember that many TV
> programs of the 1960's that were broadcast live or on tape
> in color exist today only as black-and-white tapes or
> kinescopes.
>
> I think WBAP-5 (now KXAS) had color studios in both Dallas
> and Fort Worth then; Charles Murphy (who was later an ABC
> News correspondent) and Tom Whelan were both seen in the
> early part of the NBC coverage. Whalen identified hismelf as
> being in Fort Worth; I suspect Murphy was in Dallas
> (although in the clips, he didn't identify what city he was
> in). Maybe WBAP had a local newscast back then patterned
> after "Huntley/Brinkley" with two anchors in different
> cities, in WBAP's case, Dallas and Fort Worth.
>
> Had this occured two years later, most of that weekend's
> coverage on all three networks would have been broadcast in
> color.
>
I also wonder about the anchors from nbc that day if any of them are still alive. Obviously Mcgee, Huntley, and Brinkley are all gone, however, what of Bill Ryan, Murphy, and some of the other principals

 

[Stanislav]

Re: November 22nd, 1963 And March 30th, 1981

> I also wonder about the anchors from nbc that day if any of
> them are still alive. Obviously Mcgee, Huntley, and
> Brinkley are all gone, however, what of Bill Ryan, Murphy,
> and some of the other principals


Bill Ryan is gone. I don't know about some of the many correspondents who appeared on camera that day. Most of them would probably be at least in their late 70's or early 80's if still around -- it took awhile to pay your dues in that business, and most of those guys would have to be at the very least pushing 40 before getting a network correspondent position. (Aside from the occasional exception like Peter Jennings, the original "whiz-kid" on TV news, who was anchoring when in his 20's!).

 

[bpatrick]

Re: November 22nd, 1963 And March 30th, 1981

> > I also wonder about the anchors from nbc that day if any
> of
> > them are still alive. Obviously Mcgee, Huntley, and
> > Brinkley are all gone, however, what of Bill Ryan, Murphy,
>
> > and some of the other principals
>
>
> Bill Ryan is gone. I don't know about some of the many
> correspondents who appeared on camera that day. Most of
> them would probably be at least in their late 70's or early
> 80's if still around -- it took awhile to pay your dues in
> that business, and most of those guys would have to be at
> the very least pushing 40 before getting a network
> correspondent position. (Aside from the occasional
> exception like Peter Jennings, the original "whiz-kid" on TV
> news, who was anchoring when in his 20's!).
>
Since these threads have been about NBC's coverage of JFK's
assassination, I should add the name of one correspondent who
got a network job out of that weekend: Murphy Martin of WFAA,
the ABC affiliate. ABC was so impressed they gave him the anchor
slot on the Monday-Friday 11 PM newscast they had at the time
(cut back to weekends only in 1965). Last I heard, Martin was
retired and back in Dallas.

 

[MegoMan]

> Twenty-five years ago today, Monday, March 30th, 1981,
> President Ronald Reagan (who had been inaugurated just ten
> weeks beforehand) was shot and wounded after leaving the
> Washington Hilton hotel, where he had made a speech.
> What are your memories of TV coverage from March 30th,
> 1981??
>
I remember ABC repeatedly reruning the footage of the moment Regean was struck by the gun shot. I also remember his comment to Nancy, "Honey, I forgot to duck." I also remember a certain TV character's last name temporarily changing from "Hinkley" to "Hanley". I was sitting at home that afternoon reading when my mother came home and told me to turn on the TV. <P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by MegoMan on 04/03/06 11:31 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[ixnay]

> Twenty-five years ago today, Monday, March 30th, 1981,
> President Ronald Reagan (who had been inaugurated just ten
> weeks beforehand) was shot and wounded after leaving the
> Washington Hilton hotel, where he had made a speech.
>
> That day, ABC, CBS and NBC broke into regular programming
> shortly after 2:30 P.M. EST,

I was showering in my college dorm at that hour AIR. When I came out, someone in a dorm room had IIRC CBS on.

>and aired nonstop coverage
> until about 9 P.M. EST, at which time the President was out
> of danger. That night, both the Academy Awards and the NCAA
> Division 1 men's basketball championship game were scheduled
> to take place. The NCAA's were held as scheduled; the Oscars
> were postponed a few days.

The next day Bill Lyon in the Phila. Inquirer bashed the NCAA for going on with the last dance of that years party (the 1981 Final Four was in Philly and I believe that was the last Final Four a) shown on NBC and B) including a consolation game for the semifinal losers, but that's another thread).
>
> For a young Dan Rather, who was starting his fourth week as
> anchor of the "CBS Evening News", it was his first
> experience as prime anchor for a breaking-news story on
> network television. Had this incident happened as recently
> as four weeks earlier, Walter Cronkite would have been in
> the CBS anchor chair.

Rather picked a heck of time to replace Uncle Walt.

> The best-remembered network broadcast was ABC's, due in
> large part to anchor Frank Reynolds' memorable remark when
> there were conflicting reports as to whether Press Secretary
> Jim Brady, who was also shot, was dead or alive. At one
> point, Reynolds (in an angry tone) urged his newsroom staff
> "Let's Get This Thing Nailed Down, Please! Let's Get This
> Thing Right!".

I don't recall Reynolds's explosion, perhaps because I may have been watching CBS at the time. Did Reynolds actually explode on the air???? I remember seeing Rather go so far as reading Brady's obituary.

By the time I learned the gunman's identity, I was watching ABC. When Reynolds was given the gunman's name on a 3x5 card, he said on the air, "I'm not giving this name out until I find out the source" or something like that. (Mind you, I'm reciting this from memory, because I haven't clicked on the video linked to this thread yet.)
>
> I did not see much of NBC's coverage that day (I watched
> mostly ABC and a little of CBS), but I seem to think that
> John Chancellor anchored, assisted by Edwin Newman. Had this
> incident taken place a year later, Tom Brokaw and not
> Chancellor would have anchored NBC's coverage.


I didn't see NBC's coverage either, but I heard guys in the dorm saying that the Peacock got a terrible shot of the incident. I saw NBC's footage later. I agree. NBC also had a terrible shot of Elian Gonzalez being spirited out of the house in Miami in 2000, but that too is another thread.
>
> VCR's were becoming a mass-marketed product by 1981
> (although I did not get my first VCR until August of 1984).

Two years before our household.

ixnay

PS I haven't even read the rest of the thread yet as I post this. -)<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by ixnay on 04/07/06 05:05 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[ixnay]

Re: November 22nd, 1963 And March 30th, 1981

> Remember that many TV
> programs of the 1960's that were broadcast live or on tape
> in color exist today only as black-and-white tapes or
> kinescopes.
>

Shortly after acquiring DirecTV (and with it, ESPN Classic) in 2000, I watched on Classic a B&W tape of the Peacock's coverage of the Cardinals' Bob Gibson's 17 strikeout performance in game 1 of the 1968 World Series. Wish I knew the source of that tape, which didn't seem to have kinny characteristics, although you could see the sweat on Gibby's forehead that *day* (yes, the entire WS was played in broad daylight in those days).

ixnay

 

[bpatrick]

Re the poster who pointed out the importanceof confirmation before reporting a death, DanRather had a harrowing experience on November22, 1963. At one point, he was holding twotelephone conversations, one with CBS in NewYork, the other with Parkland Hospital. TheParkland switchboard wouldn't put him throughto the doctors, for obvious reasons, but two priestswere in the hall. Rather asked to speak to one ofthem, and he said that Kennedy had been shot andwas dead. Then Rather contacted Eddie Barker atthe Trade Mart, who told him that the chief of staffat Parkland had also said Kennedy was dead. The other line, to CBS, was still open, and whenRather told Barker that he'd also heard JFK was dead,a CBS editor asked Rather to repeat what he'd justsaid. Rather, thinking he was talking to Barker, saidyes, that was the word he'd gotten from two peopleat the hospital.Within moments, Allan Jackson announced JFK's deathon CBS radio. Nothing had been confirmed, Rather hadnot authorized a bulletin, and Rather has said he saw hiscareer going belly-up even though he knew his informationwas correct. All of this happened even beforeCronkite interrupted "As The World Turns" with the bulletinthat shots had been fired at Kennedy's motorcade.So that helps explain Frank Reynolds' loss of cool overthe conflicting reports on James Brady on March 30, 1981.

 

[ixnay]

Re the poster who pointed out the importanceof confirmation before reporting a death, DanRather had a harrowing experience on November22, 1963. At one point, he was holding twotelephone conversations, one with CBS in NewYork, the other with Parkland Hospital. TheParkland switchboard wouldn't put him throughto the doctors, for obvious reasons, but two priestswere in the hall. Rather asked to speak to one ofthem, and he said that Kennedy had been shot andwas dead. Then Rather contacted Eddie Barker atthe Trade Mart, who told him that the chief of staffat Parkland had also said Kennedy was dead. The other line, to CBS, was still open, and whenRather told Barker that he'd also heard JFK was dead,a CBS editor asked Rather to repeat what he'd justsaid. Rather, thinking he was talking to Barker, saidyes, that was the word he'd gotten from two peopleat the hospital.Within moments, Allan Jackson announced JFK's deathon CBS radio. Nothing had been confirmed, Rather hadnot authorized a bulletin, and Rather has said he saw hiscareer going belly-up even though he knew his informationwas correct. All of this happened even beforeCronkite interrupted "As The World Turns" with the bulletinthat shots had been fired at Kennedy's motorcade.So that helps explain Frank Reynolds' loss of cool overthe conflicting reports on James Brady on March 30, 1981.

Rather related that story in one of his first memoirs, The Camera Never Blinks, published in about 1977 during his 60 Minutes days.ixnay

 

[Smittian]

The next day Bill Lyon in the Phila. Inquirer bashed the NCAA for going on with the last dance of that years party (the 1981 Final Four was in Philly and I believe that was the last Final Four a) shown on NBC and B) including a consolation game for the semifinal losers, but that's another thread).I don't recall Reynolds's explosion, perhaps because I may have been watching CBS at the time.  Did Reynolds actually explode on the air???? I remember seeing Rather go so far as reading Brady's obituary.>

Was this(Bill Lyon) the same guy from the Phila. Inquirer who used to appear on ESPN's "Sports Reporters" (fat guy with glasses). If so, that's the same guy who said he would not vote for Nolan Ryan for the Baseball Hall Of Fame because he "wouldn't want him to pitch game 7 of the World Series".---Total MoronMy memories of that day include:1. Reynolds' outburst (I believe ABC had already reported Brady as being dead)2. Al Haig's "I'm in charge" speech3. The NCAA Championship being played as scheduled, with Dick Enberg giving a quote from the President before tip-off "All in all, I'd rather be in Philadelphia" (game was being played in Philly). This was NBC's last NCAA Tournament game as CBS took over the next season and has had the Final 4 ever since.

 

[TVWorldwide]

Here's comprehensive French TV (Antenne 2) coverage of the Reagan shooting (the clip may take a few seconds to load; if you get a question mark, try reloading the page):

http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CAB00016715

 

[cdsull502]

Speaking of NBC's Bill Ryan and his superb work along with Frank Mcgee
during the coverage of the Kennedy assassination ---- I am curious to know what became of him. I know he had a long association with WNBC-TV in New York but never became a national figure -- the quality of his work on that day it seems to me, would have lent to his having a stronger presence on the network. Any ideas?

 

[wbhist]

Speaking of NBC's Bill Ryan and his superb work along with Frank Mcgee
during the coverage of the Kennedy assassination ---- I am curious to know what became of him. I know he had a long association with WNBC-TV in New York but never became a national figure -- the quality of his work on that day it seems to me, would have lent to his having a stronger presence on the network. Any ideas?

You would think. In 1970 Mr. Ryan left NBC and WNBC-TV for WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV) to anchor a 7:30 P.M. newscast that New York's RKO General station was starting up that November. He was only there for about 10 months or so, however; he was replaced in September 1971 by Tom Dunn (formerly of WCBS-TV and WABC-TV, and before that WTVT in Tampa). Mr. Ryan was back at WNBC as a reporter by the time their 2-hour NewsCenter4 debuted in 1974. He died in 1997.