"Dr. Martin Luther King, the apostle of non-violence in the Civil Rights movement, has been shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee..." - Television

       As news spread of King's assassination, the CBS Evening News broadcast a special report that first informed viewers of the event. As Walter Cronkite had already boarded the train and had left Washington, D.C. and had to be recalled, Dan Rather filled in. Later on, during the West Coast broadcast, Walter Cronkite gave the news in detail, mentioning that police had found a scoped Browning rifle.

       Rather, who had already distinguished himself during coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy as a Dallas correspondent, delivered the special report himself. Cronkite, finding himself in the position of having to report the untimely death of a beloved American leader for the second time in five years, delivered what was known of Dr. King's assassination at the time, as well as a brief obituary.

"4/4/1968." CBS News. CBS. WTOP-TV, Washington, D.C.. 4 Apr. 1968. Television.