Walter Cronkite Dead

I'm just now watching the bulletin on Fox Channel.

Cronkite dead at age 92.

R.I.P and may we remember him as a true reporter who we could trust...

He might laugh at that irony.

They are showing many stories he covered (Viet Nam, Moon landing, JFK assassination and many others). Gee, you kind of remember seeing these just how Cronkite was always there. A household name. RIP


TIS

weird how the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle taking off is a couple days away...

Yea, they were just commenting on that. Some of these clips are like flashbacks. I picture myself during the space walk in my living room glued to the tv, taking for granted the Walter was the news anchor. He definitely will go down as the ultimate (or at least of the ultimate) news anchors.



TIS

I just woke up and saw this thread... I knew his death was somewhat imminent but it's still sad to hear.

Cronkite, to me, personified excellence in journalism and what every other tv reporter/anchor strives to be. You always felt you were getting the truth from Walter and there was some comfort in that when the news was bad.

Cronkite was the third of my holy trinity of Walters from my youth... Walt Disney and Walter Alston were the other two. Each of them were father-like figures; they were leaders in their fields and each of them touched my life in positive ways.

R.I.P. Walter, and thanks for the news.

"...And that's the way it is."





TIS

this may be a dumb question SC, but who is walt alston?



also who the hell is disney...never heard of him lol

Not a dumb question .... just before your time. Walt Alston was the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was a classy, well-respected guy and oddly reminded me (physically) a little of Cronkite.

I assume you're joking about not knowing Walt Disney.

o okay see...was he manager when jackie entered baseball then?

and yes i was joking lol i think every person in the world knows who disney is.

No, Alston started managing Brooklyn in '53 or '54 and then moved out with them to L.A. Robinson came up in '47.

I remember reading about someone who had a holy trinity of "Johns" from his youth: Unitas, Kennedy and Pope John.

While Cronkite's legacy will of course be first and foremost that of his career in journalism, my fondest memories will be of his annual hosting of the U.S. broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert, carried on the PBS series, 'Great Performances'.

I first came across that program completely by accident in the mid-80's and it instantly became an annual tradition for me. I remember marveling at Cronkite's fortitude at returning year after year, and was a bit sad to see that he had finally relinquished the post for the most recent 2009 broadcast, which had been passed to the great Julie Andrews.

I look forward to the tribute Ms. Andrews and PBS will almost certainly pay to Cronkite when the next concert airs on January 1st, 2010.

Apple

RIP

I'm somewhat surprised at the relatively positive statements from Fox News coverage of Cronkite's death. However, I think the other shoe may drop when Fox contributors like Fred Barnes and Glen "Why did I give up drinking" Beck chime in.

Cronkite covering Vietnam every night is among my earliest memories.

RIP Walter.

Unlike commentators on other cable news networks, those at Fox may understand how to respect and pay tribute to a broadcasting legend, regardless of what his personal political views may have been.

It's called being fair and balanced.

Haha

Thanks for the laugh.

BTW, History Channel tomorrow night at 8:30 will be replaying the CBS News coverage of the Apollo 11 Moon landing

No, that's not it. Rather, it's just that there are no conservative broadcasting legends to pay tribute to (and never likely to be).

Dan Rather was really unworthy to sit in Walter's chair.

RIP Walter.

I'm late to the thread, but like some of you, my earliest memories of the Viet Nam War came from the Cronkite broadcasts. We would often have dinner during it, and I remember the daily count of the dead and wounded. Eating dinner as a small child during the news also led me to associate waxed beans with Eric Sevareid...the association continues to this day.

Also, does anyone remember that Cronkite did a Saturday morning show for kids, called "You Were There", which was a resurrection of an earlier program that dramatized historical events with Cronkite present as a reporter.

Kly, do you also remember his narration of The 20th Century during the 60s? I loved that show.

I've been watching and all day running of the series, "Cronkite Remembers" on the Discovery Channel.

Made in 1997 and hosted by Cronkite himself, sitting in a chair as if he's talking to the viewer personally...it's pretty much a narrative of his ENTIRE career, decade by decade, story by story.

What a great find. To get Cronkite's own perspective on each story, complete with personal anecdotes (sometimes funny, sometimes sad)...and even his own opinions thrown in here & there (which are also VERY interesting)...it is a treasure trove of a journalists life and times. How great that Cronkite was able and willing to tell the story himself.

Terrific watching!!

Apple

The difference was that Cronkite was a real journalist, not a glamour-puss talking head like today's "commentators." Even the dreaded Mike Wallace isn't a journalist--he's a former quiz show host and pitchman for Parlaiment cigarettes. Every time I see him trashing someone, I want to yell, "How many people died because you convinced them to smoke Parlaiments?"

Yes, Mike Wallace did much lighter stuff early in his tv career...including the original 'Biography' and a fluff NY talk show called, 'PM East' in which he chatted with various celebrities including a very young and just starting out Barbra Streisand.

According to Wallace, it was the tragic death of his son in an accident that caused him to rethink his purpose and deal with more serious issues.

Cronkite however was nothing but hard news and the reporting of it right from the beginning (although he did cover sports for a bit) ... the scope of his career is really quite astounding.