And That's the Way Cronkite Was . . .RIP

And That's the Way Cronkite Was . . .RIP

www.washingtonpost.com

As Walter Cronkite's night of retirement from "The CBS Evening News" grew closer and closer back in 1981, there were signs of palpable public panic -- one of them a briefly popular T-shirt on which was printed the horrified rhetorical question, "Oh, my God -- what are we going to do without Walter Cronkite?"

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Walter Cronkite, aged 92, passed away last night.

He was a great, open hearted and generous man and at one time the most trusted man in America.

He was not afraid to tell the truth to the nation as was shown when he did an actual fact finding trip to Vietnam to discover for himself what was going on.

His subsequent report to the nation is often credited with bringing a sea change in how the country viewed the war and helped turn the nation against it.

Like his politics or not...he was a staunch liberal...he was a good and decent man who was not afraid of the truth or intiminated by power.

He will be sorely missed by those of us who are old enough to remember him and while its a cliche...its true

We need more...far more like him.

www.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I am surprised there are no comments...uncle Walter was an important part of American life for decades.

I guess it's an indication of the average age of an ATS member that many more aren't joining in on this thread.

Yes, Cronkite may have been a liberal, but he really strove to tell the story as it was, without coloring it too much with his own point of view. People all across the political spectrum tuned in to see him every night.

News today makes no attempt at objectivity. We all watch our favorite channels depending on our political orientation. We get newscasters that pander to our biases and we, for the most part, accept that.

It's not so much that he died--he was 92 after all, and had lived a good, full life--but the passing of an era in journalism which died with him. One in which integrity and straightforwardness and a respect for facts were uppermost.

I didn't realize, until last night, how much I miss that kind of reporting.

[edit on 18-7-2009 by Sestias]

Originally posted by grover
I am surprised there are no comments...uncle Walter was an important part of American life for decades.

I was surprised at the lack of replies also, so I just did a search. There are other threads about this subject in other forums.

He was a great man.