R.I.P. Walter Cronkite

[Steve James]

For those of ya'll who can remember when there was really news. At least, during his heyday there was someone/something that you could believe. For those of ya'll born in the MTV-personality news era, you'll never know what you missed.

[Interloper]

Anyone old enough to remember "You Were There," the short films (always showed on movie screens in the school classroom) where Walter interviewed a historic figure, such as Joan of Arc, Benedict Arnold or other (often ill-fated) famous person?

Rest in Peace, Mr. Cronkite.

[internalenthusiast]

yes, his passing really saddened me.

i'd say he'll be missed...but he has already been missed, imo. i used to watch him every night after dinner, in college. integrity, is the word that comes to my mind.

RIP

[dragontigerpalm]

He was the real deal with real class. RIP

[Steve James]

Anyone old enough to remember "You Were There,"

Funny you should ask. I was watching an episode of the show on 11/22/63 when the news that the president had been shot came on. It was about the Revolutionary War, but I never saw the end. The other event, of course, was the moon landing. Both are indelibly linked with Cronkite.

[internalenthusiast]

for anyone who's interested in seeing some highlight clips of walter cronkite:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts424

[Chris McKinley]

Weird I should have nostalgia for the era of Cronkite, Huntley-Brinkley, and Chancellor. Their integrity and dignity somehow made me feel safer as a kid listening to reports of the Vietnam War and other turbulent news.

[Interloper]

Weird I should have nostalgia for the era of Cronkite, Huntley-Brinkley, and Chancellor. Their integrity and dignity somehow made me feel safer as a kid listening to reports of the Vietnam War and other turbulent news.

I think that the rapid-fire, short-attentionspan-theater aspects of today's mass media make the television milieu inhospitable to that kind of thoughtful journalism and journalist. Unfortunate, but probably people of that quality now would go into a medium where they can express themselves as they wish, such as via Internet blogging.

[cerebus]

I remember when the CBS Evening News was with Walter. Then I remember Dan Rather taking over, and even though I didn't make it a habit of watching the news (I was still a kid) it felt weird to have this new guy in Cronkite's place.

[Chanchu]

Old news men like Walter Cronkite RIP old Sir- had ethics, integrity and a sense of balance in reporting.
No more honest reporting in America- only political media lap dogs and talking wonks..

I think Africa may still have some honest reporters though. Recently saw a lady reporter startle the hell out of a CNN fake reporter by telling the truth live..

[Darth Rock&Roll]

Mr,Cronkite served the propaganda masters of America as well. He wasn't really hard hitting and he went along with the FCC like everyone else.

He was a fixture and he comforted people with his reassurance, but a reporter with integrity and ethics? There hasn't been one of those in big media, probably ever.
Or maybe there has, but their stories don't get published and if they dig too hard they wind up working serving cocktails or entrees.

just sayin...

[dragontigerpalm]

I thought then and still think now that Cronkite's expressing his opinion about the Vietnam War in 1968 was pretty ballsy in context, revealed his integrity and ethics and had a significant ripple effect. Remember that Cronkite had widespread appeal and spoke to a cross section of America. "Hard hitting" reporters are usually just preaching to the choir.

[Chris McKinley]

Agreed, dragontigerpalm. Today, there's no one is news media without varying degrees of an agenda, and the "hard hitters" looking to make a name for themselves and their careers can be some of the worst. Everybody up and down the line on both sides is a shill for something. Still, there has never been a country with a freer press than the U.S., nor a country which has had more influence for greater press freedom worldwide. The concept of a free press is a little like Churchill's statement that, "Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.".