Eyewitness News 6pm – John Lennon Death
Broadcast
1980
© Disney/ABC
The open to the flagship 6pm Eyewitness News from the day after John Lennon's murder. While WCBS opened introspectively, using clips from John Lennon's music, WABC's approach can charitably be called blunt. Unusually, a short clip of the medical examiner announcing John Lennon's cause of death to the press is the first thing we see; then, a cut to a closeup of John Lennon as the "Tar Sequence" music and Hodges' voiceover kick in. Then it's to Roger, who grimly informs us of the bare facts. There's no attempt to sugarcoat it, but there's no attempt to sensationalize it, either – the story is laid out as it is, bare for all to see.