R.I.P. Walter Cronkite 1916-2009

I didn't see this anywhere in GD, so I thought I'd bring it up.

A salute to the "most trusted man in America" we will miss you.

:patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot:

I'm way too young to have remembered him live (I was born in 1986), but most of the old news video I've seen from that 20-year period had him in it. When I've had dreams in which I am in the 60s or 70s it's always Walter that was on the News! :rofl: That deep, soothing voice of his just sticks in one's brain.

One of the Greatest of the Greatest Generation.

RIP Walter. :patriot:

on issues that others ignored. He continued to be a true patriot after his retirement.

:thumbsup:

Guess they hate having to talk about a real journalist.

Tim Russert wasn't worthy of licking Cronkite's muddy boots.

Guess they hate having to talk about a real journalist.

Tim Russert wasn't worthy of licking Cronkite's muddy boots.

another 1.5 hrs tonight. I don't think I saw that much about Russert.

Those of us who can remember Walter Cronkhite will remember the golden age of television journalism, when Cronkhite and his competitors (Chet Huntley/David Brinkley and Howard K. Smith) did the news straight -- without appealing to the prurient, tawdry, and dimwitted in us. I remember him telling people that the thirty-minute evening news was at most a start to getting informed -- and not an end. Loyal to the newspapers he old people to keep reading them. That's when the Evening News was a public service and not simply a lead-in into a game show, tabloid TV program, rerun sitcom, or some fluff.

Cronkhite made the news simple without dumbing it down. A child could understand it, and an adult could be satisfied. Once the news drew the attentions of the bean-counters more interested in ratings (and advertising revenue) than in informing the public, the thirty-minute newscast became degraded into schlock. One would have been embarrassed to see such mind-rot as A Current Affair or Inside Edition before or after Cronkhite -- but once TV news was debased, such was possible. Cronkhite maintained editorial control, and it showed.

The only real successor of Walter Cronkhite is now Jim McNeil on PBS, and even he has his limitations; his newscast isn't for everyone even if it is more informative. CNN can cover a story without restraints on time when such is necessary -- or go quickly to fluff. FoX "News" is of course an oxymoron, about what one would get if rapacious plutocrats had a televised version of the old commie Pravda.

We miss you, Walter, and That's the way it is!

WorldFocus' Martin Savage.

http://worldfocus.org/