Missouri Western State University will host a reception and watch party for the broadcast premiere of “One PM Central Time,” a new documentary about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the coverage of that day by Walter Cronkite and his team at CBS News. The reception will begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 in the Walter Cronkite Memorial, which recently opened in the Spratt Hall Atrium at Missouri Western. The broadcast of the documentary on PBS will be shown in the adjacent Kemper Recital Hall at 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The documentary’s associate producer is Marlene Adler, Cronkite’s chief-of-staff who was instrumental in helping Missouri Western secure many of the permissions necessary to build the Walter Cronkite Memorial.

From the moment President Kennedy was shot until anchorman Walter Cronkite’s emotional pronouncement of his death at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time on Nov. 22, 1963, this special tells the riveting story of the reporting from Dallas and the CBS Newsroom in New York. The special features rarely seen archives of President John F. Kennedy and Walter Cronkite and moving memories from the producers, writers and reporters who were there that day, including Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, Marvin Kalb and Marianne Means. It is narrated by George Clooney and features an interview with President Bill Clinton.

The documentary is in limited theatrical release and is drawing good reviews.

  • Variety: “Indeed, it’s very likely that, unlike many other similar tributes that are proliferating as we approach the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination, ‘One PM Central Standard Time’ will have a long shelf life in various home-screen platforms — and as a teaching tool on college campuses for history, journalism and communications studies courses…”
  • The Los Angeles Times: “…an affecting, illuminating portrait of two of America’s most beloved, culturally enduring figures.”
  • LA Weekly: “…this lack of an obtrusive agenda positions “One PM” less as another tribute to a fallen president and more as a remembrance of a time when journalism was carried out with a little more grace and dignity than it is today.”

Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.