I was 18 when the Viet Nam war was raging. I thought my choices were going to the University of British Columbia, or staying home to fight for what was wrong/right. I stayed home.
I always trusted Cronkite to give us the true word as to what was happening. Haven’t felt that confidence for a long, long time.
I wonder what Walter Cronkite really thought of the current crop of so-called news anchors we are subjected to on a daily basis?
Somehow, I don’t see Cronkite being all giddy about covering Michael Jackson for the last few weeks 24/7 – do you?
We need to return to the days where news anchors reported the news and left the entertainment fluff by the wayside. But with the attention span of the average American being the size of their empty head from ear to ear – I don’t see things changing in that department anytime soon.
His voice meant news to me. He told me what was going on.
His voice told me President Kennedy had been shot, and later had died.
His voice told me men had landed on the moon.
Watergate. Nixon has resigned.
There are voices I identify as being the voice of ____, ie, if I hear Jim Nantz I know golf is on, love him or hate him — we all know Dick Vitale is the voice of men’s college basketball.
I think many anchors have forgotten what it is like to actually go out and get the news and it comes across in their delivery. Cronkite never forgot. Best to his loved ones.
I think the way we get information has changed. Most everyone has a camera with them at all times (cell phone), many have internet access in their pockets and the world knows long before any news media gets it “on the air.” Every person, and I think most especially every blogger, can be a reporter doing opinion pieces they back up with pictures they took themselves, recordings they made themselves. Look how fast everything hits YouTube.
I think a drastic change has been the corporatization of the television networks.
And is this the downfall of what should be the most trusted television in our country – the unvarnished news?
With so much commercial business influence to make a profit at all costs, is this bringing us the best news coverage?
Many news anchors today are celebrities and I’m not saying that is wrong – but in Cronkite’s days as a news anchor, we would have never expected him to appear on all the entertainment talk shows – would we? Wasn’t there an unwritten rule that news anchors did not do commercials or hawk certain products?
Plus, now television is on 24/7 and that is alot of time to fill – so are we getting the best or are we getting the watered down quality because they are going for quantity and not quality? There’s alot of repeating and pretty soon there is overload – so people learn to ‘tune out’?
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
I was 18 when the Viet Nam war was raging. I thought my choices were going to the University of British Columbia, or staying home to fight for what was wrong/right. I stayed home.
I always trusted Cronkite to give us the true word as to what was happening. Haven’t felt that confidence for a long, long time.
Will miss you, Walter, may you rest in peace…
Yes RIP Uncle Walter.
I wonder what Walter Cronkite really thought of the current crop of so-called news anchors we are subjected to on a daily basis?
Somehow, I don’t see Cronkite being all giddy about covering Michael Jackson for the last few weeks 24/7 – do you?
We need to return to the days where news anchors reported the news and left the entertainment fluff by the wayside. But with the attention span of the average American being the size of their empty head from ear to ear – I don’t see things changing in that department anytime soon.
His voice meant news to me. He told me what was going on.
His voice told me President Kennedy had been shot, and later had died.
His voice told me men had landed on the moon.
Watergate. Nixon has resigned.
There are voices I identify as being the voice of ____, ie, if I hear Jim Nantz I know golf is on, love him or hate him — we all know Dick Vitale is the voice of men’s college basketball.
Walter Cronkite was always the voice of news.
“And THAT’s the way it is.”
I think many anchors have forgotten what it is like to actually go out and get the news and it comes across in their delivery. Cronkite never forgot. Best to his loved ones.
I wonder, has news changed or have we changed? perhaps the news reflects what we want to be told.
I think the way we get information has changed. Most everyone has a camera with them at all times (cell phone), many have internet access in their pockets and the world knows long before any news media gets it “on the air.” Every person, and I think most especially every blogger, can be a reporter doing opinion pieces they back up with pictures they took themselves, recordings they made themselves. Look how fast everything hits YouTube.
I think a drastic change has been the corporatization of the television networks.
And is this the downfall of what should be the most trusted television in our country – the unvarnished news?
With so much commercial business influence to make a profit at all costs, is this bringing us the best news coverage?
Many news anchors today are celebrities and I’m not saying that is wrong – but in Cronkite’s days as a news anchor, we would have never expected him to appear on all the entertainment talk shows – would we? Wasn’t there an unwritten rule that news anchors did not do commercials or hawk certain products?
Plus, now television is on 24/7 and that is alot of time to fill – so are we getting the best or are we getting the watered down quality because they are going for quantity and not quality? There’s alot of repeating and pretty soon there is overload – so people learn to ‘tune out’?