Socolow Talks About Coverage of JFK Assassination with WABI

WABI (Channel 5) interviewed Michael Socolow, University of Maine associate professor of communication and journalism, for a piece about television coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

He said that 50 years ago large numbers of people turned to TV broadcasters for updates about the shooting and its aftermath; 93 percent of TVs in the U.S were on during live coverage of the slain president’s funeral.

JFK’s speech at UMaine a month before he was killed personalized the tragedy for Mainers, said Socolow. “…I think there was kind of this visceral sense of people who had seen Kennedy recently, and suddenly here on television, you’re hearing this news,” he said.