Walter Cronkite Dies at 92

[Ultimajock]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/07/17/ST2009071703376.html

…just by coincidence, I happened to be producing material at KXCI and
had an mp3 of my Echoes of a Century program of the bulletins
concerning the John F. Kennedy assassination along with me when CBS
News announced Walter Cronkite’s death. Here’s the pieces of
Cronkite’s coverage that happen to be in that program…

http://kingdaevid.podbean.com/2009/07/17/walter-cronkite-reporting-the-john-f-kennedy-assassination-22-november-1963/

 

[RALfan]

:'( Sigh. The biggest source of trust lost in American television gone. RIP Uncle Walter; we'll always have the memories of what television news was, and probably never be again.

 

[radioman148]

I happened to be watching when Walter announced JFK's death. That was truly from the heart.

 

[Stanislav]

There were many people in this country (some in my own family) who would not believe a news item until they heard it from Walter's mouth.

I always think of how, when Cronkite turned against the Vietnam War, LBJ is said to have shaken his head and mutter morosely, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the country."

And I always smile when reminded of his cameo appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. ("So, Walter...what words do you have trouble pronouncing?") ;D

Now, this is just sad...the ultimate insult:

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_07_17.html#017450

 

[kirkiefan]

I read about that Friday evening on MSNBC's site....an era has gone. Huntley/Brinkley on NBC, Peter Jennings and Howard K.Smith on ABC and now Walter also gone.

I remember Dan Rather making the comment about twenty years ago on Dayton's WHIO-TV that comparisons were made "in CBS' shop" bewteen Cronkite and WHIO news anchor Don Wayne...both their voice delivery were practically similar if not nearly identical! Interestingly enough,Don Wayne also did fimed actualities in the summer of 1966 for the 6pm news on Channel 7. This was an intregal time when cynicysm against the Vietnam War,the Ku Klux Klan and (later on) Watergate escalated.

Walter was on the same side as nearly all of the 60s dads who lost a son in Vietnam...is it any wonder we regarded him as an uncle...he was the voice of "the rest of us."

Peace be with 'ya Walter...tell Edward R we said Hi!

 

[crainbebo]

You will be missed, Walter. He was the best news anchor in America. Not even Peter Jennings beat him as the best. He will be missed by tens of millions who watched his CBS Evening Newscasts. He was the guy who interrupted As The World Turns that November day in 1963 to bring you live coverage of the Kennedy assassination. It's the end of an era of national newscasters. Peter Jennings is gone, Huntley/Brinkley is gone, and now Walter. We'll miss you. And that's the way it is. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

-crainbebo

 

[Stanislav]

In my mind, on the remnants of the once-proud "Big Three" networks, only NBC's Brian Williams comes even close to the model that was set by Cronkite and his competitors. ABC's Charlie Gibson is a fine journalist and a good man, but I still peg him a notch or two below Williams. (I can't shake the image of all the silly fluff he presided over all those years on GMA.) And as for CBS.....well, let's not even go there. (I wonder, privately, what Cronkite had to say seeing perky Katie sitting in what was once his chair? Probably nothing he could ever have uttered on-air...)

 

[LKellerIII]

In my mind, on the remnants of the once-proud "Big Three" networks, only NBC's Brian Williams comes even close to the model that was set by Cronkite and his competitors. ABC's Charlie Gibson is a fine journalist and a good man, but I still peg him a notch or two below Williams. (I can't shake the image of all the silly fluff he presided over all those years on GMA.) And as for CBS.....well, let's not even go there. (I wonder, privately, what Cronkite had to say seeing perky Katie sitting in what was once his chair? Probably nothing he could ever have uttered on-air...)

From what I've heard, Cronkite thought more highly of Couric than her predecessor. If you remember. Rather ended his career at CBS on a sour note after he broadcast unconfirmed reports about Bush's draft dodging in the 70s. The supposed sources for the story were debunked as unreliable, and a number of CBS staffers lost their jobs. In the wake of that, Cronkite spoke very critically of Rather, but apparently thought quite highly of Couric - at least at the beginning.


Cronkite's voice has been introducing Couric since she began on the CBS Evening News. Apparently, CBS has decided to retire the intro in the wake of Walter's passing.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.c...retire-cronkite-introduction-of-evening-news/

 

[benwolf]

I certainly plan to tape CBS Sunday Morning...and the 7pm Sunday special.
My ranking goes CBS, then ABC for nightly news. Katie Couric is really a minor issue to me: the reporters and writing are what make a newscast.

 

[radioman148]

In my mind, on the remnants of the once-proud "Big Three" networks, only NBC's Brian Williams comes even close to the model that was set by Cronkite and his competitors. ABC's Charlie Gibson is a fine journalist and a good man, but I still peg him a notch or two below Williams. (I can't shake the image of all the silly fluff he presided over all those years on GMA.) And as for CBS.....well, let's not even go there. (I wonder, privately, what Cronkite had to say seeing perky Katie sitting in what was once his chair? Probably nothing he could ever have uttered on-air...)

From what I've heard, Cronkite thought more highly of Couric than her predecessor. If you remember. Rather ended his career at CBS on a sour note after he broadcast unconfirmed reports about Bush's draft dodging in the 70s. The supposed sources for the story were debunked as unreliable, and a number of CBS staffers lost their jobs. In the wake of that, Cronkite spoke very critically of Rather, but apparently thought quite highly of Couric - at least at the beginning.


Cronkite's voice has been introducing Couric since she began on the CBS Evening News. Apparently, CBS has decided to retire the intro in the wake of Walter's passing.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.c...retire-cronkite-introduction-of-evening-news/

Walter was not happy about being forced into retirement at 65. That also may have contributed to his feelings about Rather.

 

[searadiofreak]

The Saturday CBS evening news was anchored by Katie and again, was all Cronkite. Walter's intro was not used. (I question that, it would seem to me to be a nice tribute)...

Katie has been quite good in this, showing ample respect along with providing the facts...just like Walter did.

 

[radioman148]

It would be nice if we could get back to reporting the news like Walter & others (Huntley/Brinkley) did during that era. Instead today we have the news presented with a slant and an agenda.

 

[Stanislav]

It would be nice if we could get back to reporting the news like Walter & others (Huntley/Brinkley) did during that era. Instead today we have the news presented with a slant and an agenda.

It's all beholden to corporate and government interests now. When Cronkite went to Nam and then said the War was hopeless and our government had been basically lying to us, it had a tremendous impact. Imagine if one of the major news figures had done that early on in Iraq. It would never happen -- under the guise of "neutrality," today's news channels toe a careful line, seeking not to upset the boat. Many have rightly criticized Fox News for its unabashed cheerleading for the GOP agenda, but the other news outlets do us as much a disservice (perhaps more) with their silence, sanitizing and emasculating the news. The real journalism happens on the Internet now, courtesy of unaffiliated and unbeholden sources which, alas, are hard to find and get buried under the onslaught of ideologues, idiots, and incapable self-anointed prophets that populate the majority of the Net. Journalism as we older guys knew it is dying a quick death, and we are all worse off for it.

 

[mleach]

Walter Cronkite was among the last of a dying breed. When the story mattered. Do your job, do it well and you will go far.

Today everything is more/less "eye candy". How much you are considered "hot & sexy" is almost as important if not more than if one can do the job. Look at sports. Why do so many baseball players have goatees? Basketball & Football players with tattoos? Is it to attract women to the game? I didn't know one can win games with goatees, shaved heads and tattoos. No wait..you don't !! But to many players those are more important than the game itself.

Why do many radio stations only hire "sexy young people" even if they can't say one word on the air without getting tounge tied. Last I checked radio is something people HEAR, since when did the looks of the announer really mattered? Why should TV news be any different? I wish I had a dollar for every bad reporter/anchor I have seen on local TV..but as long as they look "hot", I guess to the station management and owners..that is more important.

Walter Cronkite really was a flashback to a time when none of that stuff really mattered. Cronkite, Brinkley, Huntley, McGee, Paul Harvey, Ron Cochran and the rest...nobody for the most part really cared about what they looked like, its the job they did that mattered.

 

[bpatrick]

Agreed. Howard K. and Harry had silver in
their hair; John Chancellor could be considered
a nerd with his horn-rimmed glasses; and Douglas
Edwards, while reporters in the '50s talked about
his "choirboy looks," was not exactly Mr. Personality.
But who cared? Every last one was trustworthy,
and don't forget--Edwards still holds the record for
the longest tenure as anchor (40 years), even if
most of those years were spent doing daytime newscasts
on CBS (if you look just at radio, Paul Harvey was on ABC
for more than 50, going back to about 1951).

But if you come right down to it, the real last of a breed
were Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, and Dan Rather--the
last heirs to the Cronkite/Murrow tradition. Seriously,
how many of you prefer to get your news from a cable
channel or the internet rather than from Charlie, Katie,
or Brian?

 

[Stanislav]

Someone had this appended to a post on another site...I like it.

"Oh for the days of Cronkite. When the TV talking heads had more grey matter and less hair spray."

 

[radioman148]

Walter was all around the most outstanding newsman, but personally when it came to space coverage in the 60s I was always watching Frank McGee on NBC.

 

[bpatrick]

Why doesn't anyone ever mention Jules Bergman,
ABC's science editor, when the subject of space
coverage in the '60s comes up? To me, he was
the expert, and it was ABC I watched for space
shots.

 

[quadraphonic]

Dennis Miller mentioned Jules on the radio yesterday, but he couldn't think of what his last name was. So at least Dennis Miller did it.

 

[cdsull502]

Frank McGee was a superb reporter who knew his stuff when anchoring the early space flights for NBC. Another excellent reporter on the spacebeat for NBC was Roy Neal. NBC beat CBS solidly in the ratings for space coverage in the 60's.

Huntley and Brinkley did not do space flights until 1965 due to a sponsor conflict. As you probably remember, Texaco was the sponsor for the Huntley-Brinkley Report and Gulf was the sponsor for the NBC live space coverage (or for any other breaking news event.)

In 1965, CBS came close to NBC in ratings for coverage of the Gemini 3 flight. For subsequent flights, with Texaco no longer sponsoring the news, NBC assigned Huntley and Brinkley to anchor the broadcasts. Neither Huntley or Brinkley had much interest in Space Flight and it showed -- they didn't do their homework. After a while, it got to the point where Chet & David's main duties on the broadcasts seemed to be introducing McGee and Neal who were much better versed on the subject than Huntley and Brinkley were. At that point, NBC's ratings for the broadcasts deservedly went into the crapper. Two excellent reporters, McGee and Neal, were exiled to the sidelines and viewers were the big losers.