To mark Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s official time of death, Channel 2 Action News will hold a moment of silence on-air during Wednesday night’s broadcast of a special honoring King.
News 95.5 AM 750 WSB and KISS 104.1 will also go silent.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, along with Channel 2 Action News, News 95.5 AM 750 WSB and KISS 104.1 will mark the moment on its websites at 8:04 p.m., the moment King was pronounced dead.
It has been 50 years since King was shot as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine motel in Memphis, Tenn. on a breezy spring evening. About an hour later, his death was confirmed.
The Atlanta pastor who had given voice and moral authority to the American civil rights movement was dead at 39.
The news rippled through America and traveled the world. Riots erupted in some American cities. Five days later, national leaders, civil rights activists and celebrities would flock to Atlanta to mourn King.
Both the moment of the infamous gunshot from assassin James Earl Ray and the moment the world learned King was dead will be marked.
- At 7:01 p.m., the moment King was shot, church bells across the city will ring 39 times for his 39 years of life. Cox Enterprises, the parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Channel 2 Action News, News 95.5 AM 750 WSB and KISS 104.1, will participate in the bell ringing.
- At 8:04 p.m., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Channel 2 Action News, News 95.5 AM 750 WSB and KISS 104.1 will hold a moment of silence on-air and across our digital platforms. Cox-owned media properties across the country will participate.
Atlanta-based Cox media properties kicked off a countdown of remembrance across the combined platforms of Channel 2, the AJC and WSB Radio on March 21. It began with the broadcast debut of the documentary "The Last Days of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." and an AJC-hosted round-table discussion of King's legacy that included his daughter, Bernice King, and those who knew him most intimately.
The news sources will continue to publish and broadcast King coverage until April 9, the anniversary of King’s funeral.
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