Farewell, Walter
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11:48 pm, July 19th, 2009 - 6 comments
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Friday saw the death of Walter Cronkite, greatest of the great generation of TV news-people. He is perhaps remembered most for the broadcast in which he condemned continued US involvement in the Vietnam War (can’t embed that vid but here’s his report on the assassination of JFK).
Cronkite and contemporaries like Dan Rather set the standard. They were informed and they gave informed opinions – not using the fiction of journalistic objectivity as a cover for ignorance like today. They were voices with authority, voices worth listening to when news was taken as a serious business. That was before they decided that TV was all about the visual image and news had to be ‘fun’.
Now, they’ve replaced real reporters with anchors who just read the tele-prompter. Interchangeable pretty young things that usually don’t understand the issue they’re talking about* – the woman: a blonde, conventional good looks, the man: dark hair, square-jaw, short back and sides.
We won’t see the likes of Cronkite again. There is no place for them in modern media.The could-be Cronkites of today don’t go into journalism. (Slate.com has a good piece the training of journalists here)
It’s easy to say we’ll miss you Walter. Fact is, we’ve been missing you and journalists like you for decades.
[* speaking of which I’ve been meaning to get this one off my chest for a while. June 6, Peter Williams (one of the good ones, I had thought) anchoring One News reporting on D-Day commemorations reads tele-prompter: ‘It was the day the Allies returned to Europe’. How many eyes saw that and didn’t realise it was completely wrong? (The Western Allies had landed in Italy in 1943, and of course both the UK and USSR were in Europe) Why make a statement like that without knowing its truth? Why not check? Guess they just don’t care. Cronkite wouldn’t have got it wrong. He would have known the facts relating to the story because it was his job]
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Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
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The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...3 days ago
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Thank you, Marty G.
Mr Cronkite was a true master of his profession, perhaps not quite the “greatest of the great generation of TV news-people” but in the pantheon, certainly.. I have a picture of him and Ed Murrow sitting at the bar in God’s lounge, a drink at their elblow and a cigarette in hand, lamenting the death of the Fourth Estate just as we mourn them.
Too many contemporary journalists see an article as a means of convincing us how brilliant and witty they are, rather than as a means of conveying interesting information about the subject to the reader. Anyone who followed Cronkite’s example would probably get fired these days.
RIP Walter Cronkite and RIP journalism.
I wish the Walter Mitty that is destroying my beloved Labour Party would exit politics.
And guess what? One News paid its own special tribute to Cronkite, perfectly illustrating the point Marty makes above.
They had some old clips, you see, from like, ages ago. Like, history stuff that boring old pros like Cronkite would know about, but not the cool kids who work in telly today.
So the reporter-child’s voiceover talked about Cronkite and the Vietnam War. While the footage showed Cronkite in World War Two.
If you can’t tell the difference between major events of the 20th century, but are kinda hot, apply for a job at TVNZ today.
How would you rate the presenters on the BBC World News channel, and/or Al Jazeera English?
This is an interesting piece from a BBC presenter.
In the USA we have gone from people like Cronkite to people like Glenn Beck.
Here in NewZealand I cannot stand to watch one network news anymore, the scripted spontaneous repetitive banter at the end of each sports bulletin about Saville’s love for food isn’t funny after a thousand times.