 | When did people find out? The distinction between respondents made above indicates the striking speed with which this news was disseminated-almost 9 in 10 knew of the events within 6o minutes after the first announcement. […] How did people first find out? Respondents were asked how they first found out the President had been shot and/or how they first found out the President was dead. All were informed by the broadcast media or by other persons. For the EK [Early Knowers], exactly 50 per cent were first informed by other persons. Their reaction was to use radio and television as a means of confirming what they had been told and to obtain further information; 84 per cent of the EK reported that they then heard of the death itself through radio or television. Among the LK [Late Knowers], who were slow in finding out about any aspect of the assassination, 68 per cent obtained their first information from another person. Their initial reaction also was to get to a radio or television set as quickly as possible for additional news. For both groups, the broadcast media were serving a supplementary or secondary role in the flow of information at the outset of the day’s events. […] In this instance, the principal first mode of diffusion was person-to-person communication. Relative access to other people and to the mass media makes one or the other more likely as a first source of information. Therefore, it is essential to examine the first source of information in terms of where the respondents were when they first heard. |
“almost 9 in 10 knew of the events within 6o minutes after the first [radio] announcement” : the media have changed (from radio to Internet) though it is doubtful that they became more efficient.
• Jun 27, 2009 link notes tagged: communication technology diffusion science event media technology
