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Whenever a jounalist becomes an editorialist, journalism suffers. Cronkite reporting on Vietnam and the success or failure of any mission is one thing. Cronkite waxing historical and trying to encourage a certain course of action through his monologues is something different.
I don't respect Cronkite. He was a hell of a lot better than what came after, but he caused what came after, first by making his saying something more important that what he said (and yes, he's as resposible for this as his audience because he did nothing to discourage it), and secondly by confusing the issue of telling a newstory with giving an opinion. Ever since, crusading journalists have wanted to "make a difference." Trouble is, humans are flawed, partial, and tend to filter informations through the lenses of their own prejudices. Leading to heavily scewed journalism and no independent source that the nation as a whole will trust.
Bottom line, Walter Cronkite lead to Bill O'Reilly.
