I was ten years old in 1962 when Walter Cronkite began anchoring The CBS Evening News. He was a steady voice throughout the turbulent 60's and on up until his retirement at the relative young age of 65 in 1981. By the time he retired I was living in Hollywood and actively pursuing a career in film. It is hard to over-estimate his impact on history and the America that I knew and loved as a child and it is sad to note his passing. Although delivering "straight news" was his goal, he would, on occasion, voice his opinion--always with a preface that this was his opinion, and America knew and trusted this man in a way that we will most likely never see again. Certainly not in my lifetime. He helped turn the nation against the disastrous war in Viet Nam and who can forget his reportage on the assassinations of JFK,RFK and Martin Luther King? For those of us who grew up with him, his influence was profound. There were only three television networks throughout all of my childhood and CBS was considered the very best in Television Journalism.
It is tempting to say that an era ends with his death but that era ended long ago and the final nail was certainly added the first time we heard FOX NEWS announce that they were "fair and balanced". Walter never had to tell you he was fair and balanced. You knew how he felt but his reportage was clean and factual. Not the frighteningly Orwellian mess we have in today's advocacy journalism on both the right and the left. It was no secret how disgusted he was with the state of Television News.
As we say goodbye, I do hope his death will give the News Business a moment to pause and reflect on where we have been and where we are going. How we get our news has forever changed with the onslaught of the Internet. I pray we will find our way and that we will not lose the integrity of the Fourth Estate. The Press. It is a vital ingredient in our democracy. Where is it headed? That is a question that concerns us all. Goodbye, Mr. Cronkite and thank you for your service to this great and troubled nation.
A day of rest today. The weather is unseasonably cool and beautiful and I am going for a nice long walk in the park near where I live. I am very grateful to finally be back in a home of my own and feel recovered from the emotional effects of the December 13, 2008 house fire. I have so very much to be thankful for--not the least of which is the joy of getting to baby sit my youngest brother's three month old daughter tomorrow. After all the years of living thousands of miles away I am so happy to be home. My family has been supportive of everything I have tried to do and it is an enormous blessing to be back among them.
Now I can leave again and GO HAWAIIAN!!!! A movie on Maui! Tough job but somebody has to do it !! Love to all !! Arrive on Maui July 28th.....Back in mid August. If the laptop holds I will certainly blog from the islands...
Posted by Glenn Shadix on July 19, 2009 09:43 AM|Permalink
Trackbacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://glennshadix.com/blog-mt/mt-tb.fcgi/39
