Question (not a gotcha one either). How do you handle/see Jack Bell's description of the number of shots? He was the AP reporter riding alongside Merriman Smith and fought with him over the use of radio telephone.
Bell: "I grabbed the radiophone [from Smith], got the operator, gave the Dallas bureau number, heard someone answer. I shouted that three shots had been fired at the President’s motorcade. The phone went dead and I couldn’t tell whether anyone had heard me. Frantically, I tried to get the operator back. The phone was still out."
When he arrived at Parkland he again phoned in his report of hearing three shots.
More here: https://archives.cjr.org/fiftieth_anniversary/the_assassination_the_reporter.php
Interesting, Bell could be the first person to be recorded as having been influenced by the news media—Merriman Smith.
According to Merriman Smith, Jack Bell’s first statement upon arriving at Parkland was that he wasn’t sure if any shots had been fired. (Sloyan, American Journalism Review, May 1997). By 12:41 PM, just four minutes after arriving at Parkland. Bell called in a report to the AP stating that three shots had been fired. He went from not knowing to three shots. The car Smith and Bell were riding in was the first Press Pool car and was responsible for briefing the other reporters.
Additionally, Senator Yarborough made a statement to a large group of reporters at Parkland that he “thought” he heard three shots. Sen. Yarborough is not sure himself but now is briefing the press that three shots were fired.
Charles Roberts of Newsweek heard only two shots. In his 1967 book, The Truth About The Assassination, (p,20) Roberts said on the flight from Dallas to Washington on Air Force One on the afternoon of the assassination, a dispute broke out among the passengers, including Merriman Smith and Secret Service Agents, about how many shots had been fired.
A number of Secret Service Agents are not only two shot witnesses but were eyewitnesses which Merriman Smith was not. Once again, the media’s influence on witnesses can be seen in the odd explanations and narratives of some of the SS agents testimonies courtesy of Merriman Smith and his three shot belief.
