News reports of King's wounding appeared first, but reporters remained consistent with the traditional news format, making early reports of the shooting seem both impersonal and inaccurate. The assassination occurred at the same time as the evening news, and several anchormen received the information during their live broadcasts; because details of the shooting were not yet clear, inaccurate information was offered in several cases. Julian Barber of WTTG in Washington, D.C., for example, mistakenly reported that King had been shot while in his car. Following this presentation of incorrect details, Barber then proceeded to introduce the station's weatherman. The rest of the newscast followed a standard format, with only minor interruptions providing information about King's condition.

     Similarly, Stanislav Kondrashov recalls that Walter Cronkite had almost finished delivering his report on the CBS Evening News when he received word of King's wounding. Visibly shaken, he announced the shooting. Moments after the announcement, however, the news program faded into commercial advertising. With little information available, the networks continued with their regularly scheduled programming and only later interrupted the programs with their station logo.. At that point, an anonymous voice announced that King was dead.

     Having received word of King's death, all three U.S. networks interrupted programming with news coverage. Awaiting President Lyndon Johnson"s statement, all three featured anchormen discussing King's life and his contributions to the civil rights movement. The networks then broadcast Johnson's statement, in which he called for Americans to "reject the blind violence,;" that had killed the "apostle of nonviolence." In addition, the networks also covered Senator Hubert Humphrey's response and presented footage of King's prophetic speech from April 3, in which he acknowledged the precarious state of his life. Although the networks had reporters positioned in Memphis, there were no television reporters on the scene because an official curfew had been imposed on the city in an attempt to prevent violence.

     According to G.D. McKnight, the immediacy of the television coverage prompted riots in more than 60 U.S. cities, including Chicago, Denver, and Baltimore. Television coverage of King's death and the riots it sparked continued for the next five days. King's life was featured on morning shows (e.g., NBC's Today Show), evening news programs, and special programs. The riots themselves commanded extensive television coverage (e.g., CBS's News Nite special on the riots).

     G.L. Carter suggests that the riots following King's as­sassination represent a significant shift from previous riotous activities, from responses dealing primarily with local issues to the national focus emerging in the wake of the King riots. National television coverage of the circumstances surrounding the King assassination may have contributed to this shift.

     The King assassination is a significant moment in the history of the civil rights movement as well as in the history of the United States more generally. In death, as in life, King influenced millions of Americans. From the first reports of his shooting to the coverage of his funeral services on April 9 at the Ebenezer Church on the Morehouse College campus, television closely followed. News coverage of King's legacy continued when, on April 11, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Bill.