November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009
Walter Cronkite passed away last week, he was 92. I grew up with Cronkite, he was the one who told me President Kennedy had been shot, that a man had walked on the moon, he reported from Viet Nam on the war there and he updated us on the Watergate scandal that was the down fall of Richard Nixon. The iconic news reporter; fair, honest news reporting, giving the facts and staying away from the sensational news that dominates today’s “news” reporters. If a story was breaking, it was Cronkite who threw himself in front of the camera, jacketless, his tie askew and his shirt sleeves rolled out.
I had the opportunity to meet Cronkite once, right after he retired from CBS, in the fall of 1981. He was speaking at some gala affair in Portland, Oregon where I lived at the time. They held a private party for a few guests to meet the man in person before the event, and somehow I managed to wrangle an invitation to this meet and greet.
The day arrived, and I showed my very official looking invite at the door, where several people guarded the entrance. After careful examination of the card, one of the doormen opened the heavy oak door that led to a private salon at Portland’s finest hotel and allowed me to enter.
And there he was, in the flesh, available for anyone to walk up and say “Hi” which of course I did. For some reason, I expected a bigger man. He always looked bigger on TV. I reckon when you sit behind a news desk, the viewer really doesn’t have any reference as to how tall you might be. But he stood about five feet seven or so. I introduced myself, and shook his hand, and gushed at how honored I was to meet him, and how I had grown up with his news. I guess I sounded pretty stupid, but he took the time to ask me what I was doing in Portland, and did I like it here. HE, engaged ME in a conversation. I was truly amazed at how witty and cleaver of a person he was, as we chatted about the joys of living in the northwest.
When Cronkite left CBS on March 6, 1981 he left a huge shoes to fill, which I have to say Dan Rathers did very well, but, there can only ever be one Cronkite. And I don’t believe that we’ll ever see that level of reporting again. You only have to turn on any national news program to realize that; when the lead story is again about Michael Jackson’s death. There’s something very wrong about the “news media” today. But that’s a whole other rant!
And that’s the way it was!
I agree that Dan Rather was a close second, but in Cronkite's own words "Dan Rather and I just aren't especially chummy."
ReplyDeleteIn regards to what's wrong about the news media today?...well...Cronkite also said it best: "There's a little more ego involved in these jobs than people might realize."