Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Forgotten Investigation

This morning’s print edition of the Austin American-Statesman carries an Associated Press story about the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy which contains the following sentence:

“Government investigations have concluded Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman.”

This sentence is inaccurate. Yes, the Warren Commission concluded Oswald acted alone, but the second government investigation—the House Select Committee on Assassinations—came to a very different conclusion. Quoting from the report:

“The Committee believes, on the basis of the evidence available to it, that president John F. Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy ...” (LINK)

Curiously, the inaccurate sentence does not appear in the original AP story by Andre Coe (LINK), nor does it appear in the on-line edition of the American-Statesman (LINK). It only appears in the paper’s print edition.

Readers of the print edition are owed a correction of this error. Many readers may not be aware of the conclusions of the second (and, apparently, final) government investigation of Kennedy's death.

Journalists seem to be unaware of it as well.