Shortly after midnight on 5 June 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-New York) was assassinated by Sirhan B. Sirhan in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. All three television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) began coverage at the scene just minutes after the shooting. The first broadcast included footage of a large crowd of supporters gathered in the ballroom, awaiting Kennedy's address following his California presidential primary victory. Muffled sounds emerged from the direction of the podium, the crowd became disorderly, and although the reason for the disruption was still unclear Steven Smith, Kennedy's brother-in-law, asked everyone to clear the room. A still photograph of Kennedy sprawled on the floor was televised as reporters noted in voice-over that he had been shot by an unknown assailant. About two hours after the shooting, supplemental footage was shown of Kennedy from behind as he stepped up to the podium, with a crowd around him. Shots were heard, camera angles were jolted in the confusion, but one camera managed to focus on the senator lying injured on the floor.

Intermittent reports provided updates of Kennedy's medical condition. Reporters at the scene first noted his condition by sight only, stating that he had been shot repeatedly but was conscious and had "good color." A physician at the scene remarked that the extent of his injuries was unknown. Later reports were provided by Kennedy's press secretary, Frank Mankiewicz, who stood on a car outside Good Samaritan Hospital to relay more technical information supplied by surgeons. At last he announced Kennedy's death some 26 hours after the shooting.

The whereabouts, identity, and motives of the assassin were vague in early accounts. Two hours after the shooting, reporters noted that a "young man had been caught" but were uncertain whether he was still in the hotel or had been taken into police custody. Described as "dark-skinned" and "curly-haired" and variously as Filipino, Mexican, Jamaican, and Cuban, Palestinian Sirhan B. Sirhan was identified nearly 10 hours later by his brother Adel after a still photograph of him was shown on television. Although he made no statements to police, eyewitnesses claimed that at the time of the shooting Sirhan said, "I did it for my country." In response to the crowd's angry chant of "kill him, lynch him," anchorman Walter Cronkite reiterated that Sirhan was "presumed innocent until proven guilty." Questions concerning Sirhan's motives and whether he was part of a conspiracy are mired in controversy to this day.

A description of the weapon was similarly indeterminate. In the earliest reports, a policeman stated that celebrity Roosevelt Grier had first grabbed the weapon but that he currently had no idea where or what type the weapon was. Within one hour of the shooting, controversy had begun to emerge in terms of conspiracy: some eyewitnesses reported that the assassin had used a six-shot revolver; others said that more than six shots had been fired. One reporter thus suggested that there might have been more than one gun--and more than one gunman. Two hours later, however, the weapon was identified as an Iver Johnson .22-caliber pistol, a weapon capable of eight shots. Los Angeles Police Chief Thomas Reddin stated several hours after this that the pistol had been traced to a missing gun report, though the gunman himself had not yet been identified. He was uncertain at this point if the man in custody was actually the assailant. Special reports on the pistol's history of ownership began to air nine hours after the shooting; 18 hours after the shooting, detailed special reports related the histories of the pistol and the assassin, who by this time had been identified as Sirhan.

The issue of violence played a crucial role in many of the shooting reports. One reporter noted that the United States would, with its rash of assassinations in the 1960s, appear to outsiders to be "some sort of violent society." The Reverend Ralph Abernathy, speaker for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, aimed his criticism more pointedly in the direction of President Lyndon Johnson and the conflict in Vietnam by saying that Kennedy had worked against "the violence, the hatred, and the war mentality" that had been "poisoning" America. Kennedy's opponent in the Democratic primary, Senator Eugene McCarthy, echoed this sentiment in his condemnation of violence at home and abroad. Some 12 hours after the shooting, Johnson responded to criticism in a special address in which he denounced violence "in the hearts of men everywhere" and suggested the establishment of a commission to investigate the causes of violence in society. The commission would be jointly directed by the president and Congress and would be composed of academic, political, and religious leaders.

More immediate measures were also proposed to deal with the security of political candidates. Following an early report that police had planned no special security for Kennedy, President Johnson declared that full secret service protection would be provided for all leading announced candidates for national positions rather than for the position-holders alone. In the mean time, reporters announced that Senator McCarthy, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and Republican candidate Richard Nixon had called off all appearances.

Others at the Ambassador Hotel rally were also injured. Shortly after the shooting, it was reported that Jesse Unruh, Kennedy's campaign manager, had been hit, along with Paul Shrade, head of the United Automobile Workers union. Four hours later, added to the list were William Weisel, an ABC unit manager; Ira Goldstein, a California news service reporter; Elizabeth Evans, a political supporter; and Irwin Stroll, a teenage bystander.

Coverage of the shooting and its aftermath continued to be broadcast until the early evening of 5 June, when networks began switching back to programs "already in progress." ABC opted not to broadcast a professional baseball game and instead had a special report on "The Shooting of RFK." Other networks informed viewers that regular programming would be interrupted occasionally to provide updated reports of Kennedy's condition. Early on the morning of 6 June, a news conference was held to announce Kennedy's death. His funeral was televised on 7 June, and highlights were televised on 8 June.

- Kevin A. Clark