Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite was one of the best broadcast journalists in broadcasting history.

Here are his successes:

1. He was the first to announce John F Kennedy’s assassination on television. From that, he helped turn network television news from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. He started to edge out his competition. He also brought the information of Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot.
2. He influenced people to be against the Vietnam War by expressing how he was against the war. People were beginning to trust him at that time more than the politicians that were in office. He reported on location at the Vietnam War. He helped make CBS News a very reputable and reliable news source.
3. He announced the Apollo 11 Landing on the Moon that made the United States beat the Soviet Union in the race to the moon.
4. He was the first to announce Lyndon B. Johnson’s death in 1973. He beat NBC’s airing by three minutes.
5. He helped bring the Nixon Watergate Scandal to media attention.
6. He emphasized to the audience how serious the Iran Hostage Crisis was in the 1980’s.
7. He retired from CBS News in 1981. After his retirement, he did some stints for CBS once in a while.
8. He guest starred on Murphy Brown twice and on Mary Tyler Moore as himself.
9. An award and a school’s broadcasting program is named after him.
10. He also broadcast in dangerous places during World War 2.

Reflection

Walter Cronkite was a hard working man. He helped create broadcast journalism as it is today. He was one of the earliest news sources to depend on (before CNN, FOX News, and the Internet existed). He delivered the news in an accurate way. He influenced America to behave and act in a certain way after his newscasts every night. He was a guy that people loved or hated; but he was still respected. He was not afraid to say how he felt.

CBS News has not been the same since he left. Dan Rather nor Katie Couric could do CBS News the way he did it.

He is a guy that will be missed by many people. He is a big loss to the Communications Industry. He helped make broadcasting journalism what it is today.

He is a big icon in American Television History and will not be forgotten.

As he would say at the end of his nightly newscasts, “…And that’s the way it is:”.