Missing Cronkite

Readers of my generation will have no trouble remembering Walter Cronkite.  He was a plain-looking, partially bald “newsman” unlike the Hollywood-attractive news presenters found today on every channel.  Cronkite rarely smiled, and I can’t remember him ever delivering one of the feel-good stories that are woven into newscasts today to balance the darker news stories.

Cronkite occupied a role that no one in our current culture possesses.  Was he a Republican or Democrat?  Cronkite was of neither party, or it would be more accurate to say he transcended political labels.  This doesn’t mean that Americans always agreed with Cronkite, but when he spoke on a difficult subject, we knew that a thoughtful judgment had been given. 

Cronkite was the face we saw when painful news had to be shared with the nation.  If my generation remembers where we were when we heard that JFK had been assassinated, we might also remember that it was Cronkite who delivered the news with a sad but unwavering voice.  He invited us to grieve but not to panic.  Whether it was the Civil Rights Movement, early space exploration, the Vietnam War, Watergate, or the Iran hostage crisis, it was Cronkite who we turned to. 

Why was Cronkite considered, in his day, the most trusted voice in the country?  The answer is that Cronkite was more than a news reader.  His broadcasts often concluded with his commentary or opinion on a critical issue facing our country and the world.  No one would have thought of labeling Cronkite’s pronouncements as “fake news.”  Cronkite wasn’t the first journalist to question the wisdom of the Vietnam War or expose the crimes of Watergate, but when he addressed those issues, we knew there would be no going back.   

I do wonder what Cronkite would make of our current situation, where every message out of the White House is fact-checked and where millions of people rely on late-night comedians like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, or Seth Myers for political commentary.             

A question we should ponder is why there is no Cronkite-like person in our country today.  Should we blame the political divisions in our country?  Yes, our nation is divided, but it was deeply divided during the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War.  Should we blame the internet, where the lines separating fact, opinion, and misinformation are so commonly blurred?   Perhaps it is a combination of the two, the divisiveness in our country and the “truth is what I say it is” on the internet that perpetuate those divisions.   

If there is no one of Cronkite’s courage and stature in today’s news-heavy climate, more’s the pity.   We are bombarded by news bites and “breaking news” but understand less and less of what needs our attention as citizens of a democracy.