RIP: Walter Cronkite Passes Away At 92

Proof • July 18, 2009

A journalism legend. With him comes the end of an era.
I’ve been asked to speak a few times at panels and events focusing on new media. When people at those events would ask me about if the proliferation of blogs and so-called “citizen journalism” was leading to more disinformation, or ask me how you could figure out which sources were good and which were bogus, I was fond of quoting “the most trusted man in America” Cronkite’s famous send-off line on CBS News “…and that’s the way it was.”
In Cronkite’s time, media sources were limited. There were a few broadcast stations that ran the evening news, and then there were newspapers and magazines. These media sources were tightly controlled by a small group of people. The local publisher and/or editor of the newspaper was among the most powerful and influential people in that community. Nationally, entire elections could hinge on how a news report was portrayed by an anchor. Or whether or not a producer decided to even cover a story.
Today that era is dead. There are no Walter Cronkites any more, and while I bear personal animosity to Cronkite himself, good riddance to that era. But to have a big, giant, sloppy mish-mash of information available for the public to pick through than a carefully managed stream of news being spoon-fed to us by talking heads on television who became so trusted nobody dared question them.
The latter isn’t perfect, by any stretch, but better too much freedom of information than too little.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Politics

http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

And the doctor says…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJQwHwP0ojI&feature=related
http://www.valleydeals.com/cgi-bin/board2/YaBB.pl Kevin

He should have waited until next year when there is no death tax. Oh, well.
http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

As it turns out “the most trusted man in America” was manipulating how he covered the news to advance his agenda.
LoadTheMule

I feel the same way about Walter Cronkite as I do Jane Fonda–I wouldn’t spit in his ass if his guts were one fire–and for pretty much the same reasons. In fact, and it pains me to admit this, at least Jane was open and above board about her desire to have us lose the southeast asian conflict. Anyone who could prompt a remarks like, “If we’ve lost Walter Cronkite, we’ve lost the country,” from Richard Nixon is far too powerful for to suit me.

Mourn him if you like. I’ll just go on about my business as if nothing of importance happened today, because it didn’t.
http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

And that’s the way it is!
jimmypop

good riddance to that era.

amen
http://www.dartemis.net/blog/ sayanything-42

We both beat Drudge to the story!
http://markthispage.blogspot.com/ sri

Wow, another famous person to leave. Walter (referred to as “Uncle Walt”) was a great man that knew how to deliver news. I wish these noobs nowadays had such skills. Prayers to Walter’s family and friends. In his memory, for his fans I have collected some great sites and articles (more than 200) to know all about Walter Cronkite. If you are interested take a look at the below link
http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/07/walter-cronkite-another-famous-person.html
http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

In fact after Tet the Viet Cong ceased to exist. We were only fighting North Vietnamese Units from that point on.

And Walter lied and called in a loss for us.
raj58045

Nationally, entire elections could hinge on how a news report was portrayed by an anchor.Â Or whether or not a producer decided to even cover a story.

Today that era is dead.

Are you kidding?? How did Barry get in the White House?? The media put him there. Look at all the negative things they could have reported on about him. They ignored it all, while painting him as a saviour. What about the health care infomercial they put on without allowing for any input from the other side? Do you ever hear honest, unbiased reporting about global warming on any of the networks? What passes for journalism these days is a joke.
carrick

WOOF:

For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.

Proving that Cronkite was an idiot.

Even your hero James Webb thinks that Cronkite was way of the mark on this.
2Hotel9

The damage Cronkite did to America and the human race as a whole can be neither forgiven nor forgotten. I expect to see him burning in Hell when I arrive.
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/realitybasedbob/ realitybasedbob

There are no Walter Cronkites any more, and while I bear personal animosity to Cronkite himself, good riddance to that era.

Ya gotta love a good Freudian slop.
2Hotel9

Yep. Right after handing the NVA and VietCong the most devastating defeat of the war Walter told America we had lost the Tet Offensive. Fucking asshole.
http://www.dartemis.net/blog/ sayanything-42

Paleo-Communists defending their deceased propagandist.
RJ Richards

I hate to see anyone die. It’s just tough, but Whistler is right. Walter did lie and it did hurt American soldiers and the country as a whole. People need to remember that we didn’t have blogs, Drudge, Rush, or Fox news back then. Guys like Cronkite had a lot of power. They used it to their further their own agenda and it hurt us.
robert108

Cronkite lied; American soldiers died, and we were defeated in Vietnam due to his lying propeganda.
Whatever else he may have done, his lie about Tet will always discredit him.
wayne

Cronkite actually says “I’M GLAD TO SIT ON THE RIGHT HAND OF SATAN”

skip to about the 7 minute mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbBOnopr4iM
Neiman

I was chastied on the Reader Blog Thread about Cronkite just for saying, “He was supposed to be the most trusted man in America, but as young as I was back then, I knew he was in the tank for the Democrats and Liberalism and I could not stand the man.”

Compared to some responses above, my comments seem like expressions of affection.
Brent

There are no Walter Cronkites any more

I wish that were a completely true statement.
robert108

The Vietcong did not win by a knockout [in the Tet Offensive], but neither did we. The referees of history may make it a draw. . . . We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds. . . .

Thanks for reprinting his lies; we kicked VC ass at Tet, and Walter lied about it to the American people. His lies turned the American people against the war, resulting in more US casualties and eventual defeat.
We won by a big knockout.
Walt was a lying propagandist.
robert108

Brent: Here’s an example of a present day Cronkite-type lie:

“The war…is lost.” – Harry Reid

Fortunately, he couldn’t produce the same result in Iraq that Walt produced in Vietnam, primarily due to conservative blogs and conservative talk radio. He did delay our victory and cost more American lives, though, in concert with his Dem buddies in Congress.
2Hotel9

See, another America hater spewing fucking lies. According to you, between 1965 and 1968 28,000 American troops died in VietNam. Care to prove that, you fucking cunt?
ellinas

Care to prove that, you fucking cunt?
2Hotel9 on July 18, 2009 at 06:31 pm

Like I have told you numerous times: Your grandmother, mother, wife, sister, sister in law, daughters in law, and your daughters are cunts.
2Hotel9

And again, no proof, just more lies from the lying cunt.
2Hotel9

And still more lies from you, lying cunt. I can kick your teeth in for as long as you want to spew your lies, lying cunt.
2Hotel9

And notice, the lying cunt has no counter argument. Just spews more lies, like the lying cunt it is.
2Hotel9

And you have yet to demonstrate how Texas getting a loan and repaying it in, now less than, 6 months is a bad thing, lying cunt.
ellinas

And again, no proof, just more lies from the lying cunt.
2Hotel9 on July 18, 2009 at 06:56 pm

Your grandmother, mother, wife, sisters, sisters in law, daughters in law, and your daughters are cunts.
Now let’s see if you can prove me wrong.
Bat One

Tet â€˜68 marked about the half way point of the number of American troops killed. The war was far from over and never near won.

WOOF,

I have yet to read an authoritative military history that did not acknowledge that the Tet Offensive was a decisive military victory for the US and a military disaster for the North Vietnamese. Perhaps you could point to one or two such authoritative histories?

In the meantime, Tet clearly became a turning point and then a political victory for the North as the American public came to believe that the war was “unwinnable” and then “lost”… just as “the most trusted man in America” told them. No less an authority than Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap has acknowledged both the military defeat and the ultimate political victory over the US that the Tet Offensive became. And while there is still some doubt whether or not Giap actually planned the Tet Offensive, and when he advocated it’s launch, there is no doubt that his views are accurate and authoritative.

All of which demonstrates that Cronkite was far more instrumental in crafting the US loss in Vietnam than was either the US or the North Vietnamese military.
WOOFX

Paleo-Birchers convinced they were stabbed in the back.
WOOFX

Walter:

The Vietcong did not win by a knockout [in the Tet Offensive], but neither did we. The referees of history may make it a draw. . . . We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds. . . .
WOOFX

“For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. . . . To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past” — Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News, February 27, 1968.
WOOFX

Tet ’68 marked about the half way point of the number of American troops killed. The war was far from over and never near won.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

Exactly, RJRS, which is why – while talk radio and blogs, etc. aren’t perfect – we’re a much better informed society today.

We still have a long, long way to go through. But it’s getting better, I think.

SayAnythingBlog.com

RIP: Walter Cronkite Passes Away At 92

Create a SAB Readerblog

Recent Comments