JFK 50th draws media tidal wave

From POLITICO

While hearkening back to that grim day on Nov. 22, 1963, the appetite for all things Kennedy has been ratcheting up all season, and the media world is eager to feed the public’s interest with books (there are more than 100), as well as dozens of movies, documentaries, TV specials, and iPad apps.

The challenge for the Kennedy anniversary projects, according to those involved, is to be respectful when recalling a national tragedy, while at the same time finding ways to stand out in a super-saturated field. That’s led to some creative (and unusual) efforts to say something fresh about historical events that already have been dissected for five decades - for example, in perhaps the most extreme bid to find a new angle, there’s even a book imaging what would have happened had Kennedy lived.

“The public just can’t get enough,” said Shana Capozza, the director of marketing and publicity at The Globe Pequot Press, which is promoting three new JFK books: “Where Were You? America Remembers the JFK Assassination,” “Kennedy and Reagan: Why Their Legacies Endure,” and “JFK in Ireland: Four Days that Changed a President.”

“When you think about how many different ways that story can be told — on an historical, personal, political, or cultural level — you recognize that the increased public interest in the Kennedys because of the looming 50th anniversary offers a plethora of opportunities for authors and publishers to engage with and fulfill the needs of readers on a number of different levels,” Capozza told POLITICO.

And plethora it is: “Parkland” hit theaters last month and tells the story of the assassination and its aftermath from the perspective of the medical staff Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where Kennedy was pronounced dead. Magazine racks are filled with special anniversary editions from Vanity Fair, The Atlantic and LIFE, which first brought the Zapruder film to the American public, and has a new book out featuring the complete Zapruder film.

Traditional book publishers are leaping at the opportunity as well — perhaps more so than any other platform. A search for “JFK” on Amazon finds more than 100 books with a publication date between September and December. One examines the five days surrounding the assassination, another just the day of Nov. 22, 1963 and a third takes a look “minute by minute.” Other works examine the assassination in novel form. There’s even a spoof on the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series, dubbed “Lose Your Own Adventure.” More seriously, another book takes a look at what might have happened if Kennedy hadn’t been shot.

“For a book publicist, there is no better time to be working on a book about JFK,” said Lorna Garano, the founder of Lorna Garano Book Publicity, which is promoting, “The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination” by Lamar Waldron. “If you have a credible book with new information or an original perspective, you’re almost guaranteed media interest.”

“There is an entirely new generation to be introduced to the Kennedys, and it may be through all of the exhibits, books and movies that will spring up,” said Jayne Sandman, principal at BrandLinkDC.

Aimed at that new generation is anniversary digital content. The NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, KXAS, has made an iPhone app, called “NBC 5 Remembers,” which “offers unique historical insight into events leading up to and surrounding that tragic day.” University of Virginia politics professor Larry Sabato’s new book, “The Kennedy Half-Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy,” also has an app coming with audio of the Dallas police dispatch from the day of the shooting.

Hugh Morton, who has been trying to bring his “Who Killed JFK?” app to the market, says, “There’s plenty of room for everyone in many diverse media, old and new, provided they keep their projects grounded in fact and not get carried away with demeaning and confusing rumor and innuendo.”

For moviegoers who’ve may already have seen “Parkland,” Warner Bros. is re-releasing Oliver Stone’s 1991 film “JFK” in theaters and on Blu-Ray. The Smithsonian Associates will also screen Stone’s film at the National Museum of American History on Nov. 1, followed by a sold-out discussion with the director.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/jfk-assassination-50th-anniversary-media-98558.html#ixzz2iNQz7oZJ