Subj:  CBS poll				Section: The Media
  To:  all				Thursday, December 16, 1993 5:46:14 PM
From:  Joe Knapp, 70403,2231		#11371

I found the news item on the CBS poll on the assassination (thanks, Duke) which 
reported the 90% number for those believing Oswald did not act alone. I'll post it 
below, but in summary here is the breakdown:


    "Believe LHO did not act alone":

            overall      89%
            age 18-29    86%
            age 45-64    77%

            margin of error 3%

Why only those age ranges were reported in the article I don't know, unless CBS really 
really really wanted to make a point based on age, and the other data would make their 
weak point even weaker. As can be seen the difference between the age ranges listed is 
barely significant (note that the margin of error will go up for the smaller 
subsamples). Also, since the overall percentage is higher than either of the 
age-related percentages, other age groups (0-17,30-44, and/or 65-up) must be greater 
than 89%.

Here is the article:

UPn  11/16 1830  CBS poll: Americans believe CIA helped assassinate JFK

   NEW YORK (UPI) - Nearly half of Americans believe the CIA was involved in the 
assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and only 11 percent believe Lee Harvey 
Oswald acted alone when he shot Kennedy, a poll released Tuesday by CBS News shows.
   CBS surveyed 1,117 people on their beliefs about who orchestrated the shooting of 
Kennedy in Dallas' Dealey Plaza on Nov. 22, 1963.
   Eighty-nine percent of those questioned said they do not think Oswald acted alone in 
assassinating Kennedy.
   Asked who they believe was involved, 13 percent of those surveyed said the Soviet 
Union was behind the assassination. Twenty-two percent blamed the Cubans. And 37 
percent said the Mafia was responsible.
   Forty-nine percent said the CIA was involved in murdering Kennedy. Four out of five 
people surveyed said the government covered up the truth about the assassination.
   Although a sizable majority in all age groups believe an entity other than Oswald 
was involved in a conspiracy to murder Kennedy, a pattern based on generational 
differences emerged in the CBS poll.
   Eighty-six percent of those surveyed who were 18 to 29 years old -- born after the 
assassination -- believe there was an official cover-up, compared to 77 percent of 
those 45 to 64 years old.
   Sixty-four percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said the CIA was involved, compared to 42 
percent of those 45 to 64 years old.
   CBS pointed out there has always been skepticism that Oswald acted by himself; a 
1963 Gallup poll showed two-thirds believed others were involved. But the news agency 
said its poll shows there are many explanations plausible to Americans today.
   The poll had a three percent margin of error in either direction.