Walter Cronkite Dead at 92

[peeker643]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7823649&page=1

I'd say that he was the Vin Scully of news.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7823649&page=1

I'd say that he was the Vin Scully of news.

He was a good news reader. I've never understood his iconic status, but I didn't grow up watching him. For the Baby Boomers, they remember him from their youth. I think those of my generation and younger don't have the same kind of affection or memories pertaining to Cronkite.

I do think he stepped out of his role as an "objective" journalist on many occasions (such as his coverage of the Tet Offensive) and loathed his push for the US to give up some of its sovereignty in order to strengthen the UN as a true world governing body.

None of the news readers have ever meant much to me, but for the past 15+ years I've gotten most of my news online - nearly half of my life and more than half of the time I've been aware of the world around me. Actually that's most of the time I've been aware. I think the first I can recall much active interest was during the Gulf War back in 91, ten years after Cronkite had left the airwaves. And by then most of the news I watched was on CNN where there wasn't one anchor.

Sorry for the Cronkite family's loss. I'm glad he was able to live a long life.

[peeker643]

He was easy and comfortable to listen to Mac. That's what I remember. You may be on the other side of his politics, but if you don't think he influenced the current generation of news anchors and the news business, who saw the power an anchor's words were capable of when Cronkite commented on the war in Viet Nam, you're underestimating his influence.

It should also be pointed out that he was right in pointing out that the US was losing the war when he made those comments. Hard to argue.

And I would expect it to be difficult to understand what made him an icon if you spent no time watching him and didn't grow up with him on the television. It's not something you get from obits, history books and Wiki entries.

Nonetheless, an icon is what he was.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

He was easy and comfortable to listen to Mac. That's what I remember. You may be on the other side of his politics, but if you don't think he influenced the current generation of news anchors and the news business, who saw the power an anchor's words were capable of when Cronkite commented on the war in Viet Nam, you're underestimating his influence.

It should also be pointed out that he was right in pointing out that the US was losing the war when he made those comments. Hard to argue.

And I would expect it to be difficult to understand what made him an icon if you spent no time watching him and didn't grow up with him on the television. It's not something you get from obits, history books and Wiki entries.

Nonetheless, an icon is what he was.

I'm not too sure the US was losing the war. I think he misrepresented the Tet Offensive and made it appear as if any gains were small. I'd argue that we began losing the war after he said we were losing it. Was it poorly managed prior to that? Sure.

I understand he was an icon. As I said, he was more of an icon for previous generations to my own. I do understand that. My parents were sad at his passing because they watched him every night during their formative years. He was their window on the world.

I don't understand how a news man could be an icon like that because of the generational issue. I grew up watching CNN and Headline News. I rarely watched any of the network news shows and I'll bet most my age and younger are the same. So we ultimately don't understand completely how a news man could become such an icon because the dominance of the nightly news shows is foreign to us.

[leadpipe]

Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin and.....

YOU ARE THERE

[peeker643]

He was easy and comfortable to listen to Mac. That's what I remember. You may be on the other side of his politics, but if you don't think he influenced the current generation of news anchors and the news business, who saw the power an anchor's words were capable of when Cronkite commented on the war in Viet Nam, you're underestimating his influence.

It should also be pointed out that he was right in pointing out that the US was losing the war when he made those comments. Hard to argue.

And I would expect it to be difficult to understand what made him an icon if you spent no time watching him and didn't grow up with him on the television. It's not something you get from obits, history books and Wiki entries.

Nonetheless, an icon is what he was.

I'm not too sure the US was losing the war. I think he misrepresented the Tet Offensive and made it appear as if any gains were small. I'd argue that we began losing the war after he said we were losing it. Was it poorly managed prior to that? Sure.

I understand he was an icon. As I said, he was more of an icon for previous generations to my own. I do understand that. My parents were sad at his passing because they watched him every night during their formative years. He was their window on the world.

I don't understand how a news man could be an icon like that because of the generational issue. I grew up watching CNN and Headline News. I rarely watched any of the network news shows and I'll bet most my age and younger are the same. So we ultimately don't understand completely how a news man could become such an icon because the dominance of the nightly news shows is foreign to us.

I'm not going to argue the war or Walter Cronkite turning the tide with his news reports. I wasn't even 2 and you weren't a zygote yet.

For the rest of the post I agree and understand. The nightly network news isn't too far behind newspapers in regard to being Edsel-ized. That started in my house when we got cable in, like, '78 or '79. But from about '60 to '80 (the zenith years of nightly news) Conkrite was the Don of television news and his influence was huge in the industry then and afterward.

[davemanddd]

right. what's a zygote??? voopa-voopa-voopa-ting!!!