WLS Channel 7 - "Reagan Assassination Attempt Coverage" (1981)

Here's an excerpt of WLS Channel 7's coverage of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Featuring anchors Fahey Flynn and Joel Daly, 1980 third-party Presidential candidate John Anderson, and towards the end of the clip in the newsroom, Diane Allen.

This clip begins as Anderson - at the studios of sister station KGO Channel 7 in San Francisco, and interviewed by Fahey - is midway through describing how the shooting was reminiscent of something he experienced in Denver during the 1980 campaign when someone threw an object at him, and mentioning that Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy was part of his detail. When asked about what to do to prevent such incidences, Anderson spoke of times when he contemplated wearing a bullet-proof vest, but there is no way they could be fully prevented.

After the interview is over, Joel gives a commentary about the shooting, which he characterizes as "like a recurring nightmare" and how "our heroes are raised up to be shot down," and decries the glorification of violence in entertainment - yet at the same time opines about how this served to "reaffirm and reassure," and how there are more people who seek to save lives than to take them.

There is then a two-shot of the anchors with the theme music, signalling a commercial break (which is cut out).

Next, Joel introduces Diane Allen in the newsroom, who reports that Reagan gunman John Hinckley had joined the National Socialist Party of America in 1978, but they insist they threw him out a year later, characterizing him as a nut who wanted to shoot up everybody. Fahey then thanks Diane for her report before the recording cuts out.

This aired on local Chicago TV on Monday, March 30th 1981.

Add To

You must login to add videos to your playlists.