Radio stations that had news departments had police radio receivers in their newsrooms, and the stations were putting out every major breaking story that day as soon as they heard the transmissions over the police scanners. People all over town were listening to these commercial radio broadcasts, and the newsmen were passing along new police information as soon as they heard it over their police radios.

This is incorrect, and also has long been illegal. It is prohibited through federal and state laws. Section 705 of the Communications Act of 1934, since revised but retaining this law, addressed the issue. Interception of certain private, or non-public electronic communications (such as police scanners) is permitted, but not public disclosure of private, non-public electronic communications (such as police scanners).

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/h...1----000-.html

Radio stations have long made employees aware of these laws, with the strict rule... Do not report information obtained from police scanners. Certainly, the station can dispatch a news team to the scene, in an effort to get the first "breaking news" ahead of other media outlets. But that is quite different, and even then police on the scene may require no public reporting if safety or other issues warrant it.

The reasons for not making immediate public announcements of police radio communications are obvious - it can compromise the police in their efforts, aid the perpetrator(s), and cause chaos or panic among the general public. It can also cause other problems - since the information is not confirmed to be correct until police arrive at the scene to verify it. False or inaccurate reports called in to the police are common occurrences - someone may report a murder, a call will be dispatched over the police radio, and upon arrival the officers will find it was only a minor injury; or it could be just a house party full of loud, drunk kids, reported by an irritated neighbor who figured that would get a quick response. Reporting a murder over the air that never happened would not only be illegal, it would also be likely to make the station look quite foolish and incompetent.

If you care to dispute this, please provide evidence that the Dallas radio stations at the time were actually reporting, over the air, incidents such as this, immediately after intercepting police radio communications via monitoring scanners.