Walter Cronkite

[fightingsioux4life]

American network news legend Walter Cronkite has died at age 92. He came from the era before 24-hour cable news and set the standard for network news coverage that hasn't been matched by anyone else. I was in the first grade when he retired from the CBS anchor chair in 1981, but I vaguely remember watching him deliver the news and I also remember the skit Johnny Carson did portraying his last night in the anchor chair.

All the legends I grew up watching are dying one at a time. Very sad.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/17/w...r-cronkite.html

[redwing77]

And with him goes objective news media.

Period.

RIP Walter.

The Truth never sounded so good. And the truth was never hard to find when he was the one giving it.

[gjw007]

And with him goes objective news media.

Period.

RIP Walter.

The Truth never sounded so good. And the truth was never hard to find when he was the one giving it.

That might be a stretch but he is from an era that tended toward hard news rather than the soft stuff (like the endless Michael Jackson worship). He declared the US lost the Vietnam War after the Tet offensive, the very offensive that eliminated the North Vietnamese Army for the rest of the war from mounting a direct attack against the US and is largely credited for undermining US morale because of his position (rightly or wrongly). I was more a fan of Brinkley who felt that the journalist shouldn't let their personal politics factor their reporting. That is impossible but it is a goal that should be strived for. His comments on the Space Program were also amusing. Cronkite was an active Democrat and his reporting did reflect his values.

[mizzou/sioux]

No doubt about it, Walter Cronkite is a legend. And for a journalist to be called "the most trusted man in America" is no small achievement. Journalists are frequently maligned, many times for the absolute wrong reasons. It's probably part and parcel of the growing cynicism of the day. Cronkite was a hard-news reporter, having being a United Press reporter slogging through Europe during the World War I days. He also helped recreate history by hosting the CBS show "You Are There" in the 1950s. He also earned his spurs by anchoring national political conventions in the mid-1950s, went up against the vaunted NBC duo of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley and triumphed in the ratings. Perhaps his most spectacular single longterm achievement was his mastery of the nuances of America's adventures in space. No wonder he became so trusted, for it was at a time when a large portion of the American populace was fascinated by our space challenges with the Russians. I don't think it is ever completely possible to shed one's political convictions and be completely neutral in everyone's eyes. Yet, I believe Cronkite was as fair a journalist as anyone could be. His wisdom, his kindness, his drive for accuracy and his unending compassion stood him well in the oftentimes turbulent profession that news-gathering could be at times. He was not afraid to enter the arena. His legacy is secure. May he truly rest in peace.

[Siouxman]

No doubt about it, Walter Cronkite is a legend. And for a journalist to be called "the most trusted man in America" is no small achievement. Journalists are frequently maligned, many times for the absolute wrong reasons. It's probably part and parcel of the growing cynicism of the day. Cronkite was a hard-news reporter, having being a United Press reporter slogging through Europe during the World War I days. He also helped recreate history by hosting the CBS show "You Are There" in the 1950s. He also earned his spurs by anchoring national political conventions in the mid-1950s, went up against the vaunted NBC duo of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley and triumphed in the ratings. Perhaps his most spectacular single longterm achievement was his mastery of the nuances of America's adventures in space. No wonder he became so trusted, for it was at a time when a large portion of the American populace was fascinated by our space challenges with the Russians. I don't think it is ever completely possible to shed one's political convictions and be completely neutral in everyone's eyes. Yet, I believe Cronkite was as fair a journalist as anyone could be. His wisdom, his kindness, his drive for accuracy and his unending compassion stood him well in the oftentimes turbulent profession that news-gathering could be at times. He was not afraid to enter the arena. His legacy is secure. May he truly rest in peace.

Certainly you must mean WWII. He wasn't out of diapers in WWI.

[mizzou/sioux]

Certainly you must mean WWII. He wasn't out of diapers in WWI.

Siouxman, you are quite correct. It was indeed World War II. Thanks for catching my error.