As I write this, I’m watching CBS Sunday Morning and the coverage they have on Walter Cronkite, who left this earth on Friday, July 17th.  What immediately struck me was that news of the death of Michael Jackson hit Twitter almost the moment it happened, but here it is Sunday and I haven’t yet seen any mention of Walter Cronkite on Twitter.

I suppose this is understandable given the recent birth of Twitter, and the fact that Walter Cronkite was already a very seasoned newsman when we baby boomers were still kids.  Nevertheless, I added a comment to Twitter in recognition of his passing out of respect for the integrity of the man and his honesty in news presentation (before news was part of entertainment).

What I remember the most, I remember because it was shown as part of other stories over the years – his reporting and reaction when President Kennedy was murdered, his excitement over the moon landing. (An event my mother made me watch because she knew once I grew up I would want to say I had watched it.)

As a preteen, I wasn’t really very aware of the news or what was going on in the world back then.  My strongest memory of the Vietnam war was sitting in the front room with a bunch of family and friends watching the lottery that was to decide who’s sons and brothers would be sent to war, based on their date of birth being drawn out of a virtual hat.  I had not remembered that Walter Cronkite influenced the end of the Vietnam war through his reporting, and his stating his opinion (a rare event back in the days where news was reported for the facts rather than the spin) that it was time to end our involvement. Apparently when President Johnson heard this he stated ”If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” and a few days later announced he would not run for another term.

Another item that was news to me was that the first American interview and introduction of the Beatles to America was not Ed Sullivan, but on a Walter Cronkite interview.  Ed then called Walter to find out more about them and set them up for his show.

It is natural for younger generations to not be terribly interested in someone so long retired from the airwaves.  Personally, even though I was still quite young when he retired 28 years ago, I think of him as the icon of credible news.  Now I find I question all news, wondering what influence has been brought to bear on spinning it either with personal agendas or corporate agendas.  When Walter reported the news, it was believed that it was, truly “And that’s the way it is”.

If you would like to learn more about Walter Cronkite, Esquire has re-posted an article done a few years ago that you may enjoy.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 at 10:06 am and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.