Walter Cronkite, 1916 – 2009
Jul 17, 2009
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I’m very sad to hear about Walter Cronkite passing away tonight. I remember his CBS news broadcasts as a child, with his reassuring “That’s the way it is . . . “ as he wrapped up his nightly 30 minute broadcast.
I read Cronkite’s autobiography with fascination over 10 years ago. Here was a man who saw communications evolve from telegraph to radio to TV and then to the Internet. He helped to change perceptions of US involvement in Vietnam, helped bring Watergate to Americans’ attention, and through interviews laid the steppingstones to an Israeli-Egyptian truce in the 1970s.
But what I especially remember about Cronkite’s story was his concern over the environment. Most folks of his generation really don’t think about the effect they leave on this earth. But Cronkite was concerned about our air, our food supply, and the effects of our energy policy.
Nowadays news is merging with entertainment, and personality trumps performance. It’s sad to think that we really won’t have journalists—or men--like Walter Cronkite ever again. 