Cronkite was a great journalist. When he showed his rare moments of emotion on air, it was honest and he was actually reflecting what his audience was also feeling...the sad lump in the throat with the death of President Kennedy, the frustrated outrage about a non-stop Vietnam War, and the excitement of a man landing on the moon. I received a message from a friend, who, like I, was disgusted by just enduring the week of non-stop pseudo-news about Michael Jackson. My friend noted, "Walter Cronkite dies about the same time that serious journalism appears to be dying." Why the Jackson obsession by the media? Jackson was a pop culture figure in a celebrity-driven news world, had young and screaming fans, had scandals for sensationalism, and allowed Sony and probably other media oligarchs (Time Warner, Disney, etc.) to continue to make tons of money on CDs, DVDs, and other electronic products. On July 6, on the CBS Evening News where Cronkite became a journalism legend, I kept track--there were only five other news stories about the nation and world and the rest of the half-hour was dominated by the numerous Jackson pseudo-news topics. Shameful! Cronkite came into the TV world from newspapers, some of which are currently experiencing economic woes. But at least the term "newspaper" has the word "news" in it. "Television" could be called today "telentertainment." Walter Cronkite was a great journalist.

Other than to say that Cockburn was not too harsh, I agree with your view on the Newshour, and especially about Democracy Now!.

The reason I don't believe Cockburn was too harsh is that The Newshour is much more insidious than shows on Fox News (say). Those shows are so overtly partisan and ideological that the unsuspecting viewer soon understands what is going on. That faux even-handedness you mention on the Newshour, in contrast, lulls well-meaning people into believing that they are getting real news. But they are not, of course. Lehrer presents the news tightly constrained within Jay Rosen's Sphere of Consensus, whereas Democracy Now! ranges far, far beyond it.

just try to think who is the most 'objective journalist' on TV (and thus the only one who is able to follow in the footsteps of Walter)??!

That's easy: - Jon Stewart!

True - he might be leaning a little bit more to the left - but only because the so called right 'objectively' is much further away from the truth than the "left" - and I don't know why some fools still think 'objectivity' has something to do with bringing 'both sides of an issue to the table - (HEY! that's not in the definition) -

And so I have to declare Jon Stewart as the legitimate 'inheritor' of Walters Way - as the "master of objectivity' - and little brother is allowed to call me:"The Gloved One'!

Walter Cronkite was more anchor than journalist, but he did his job well and, in his day, was a greatly beloved figure. I will never forget his coverage of the assasination of JFK - the collapse of a golden era of hope in America. But you are right, Glenn, we do not see his like today. The man oozed ethics and principle.

What do you make of this piece of journalism by CNN?

Sept. 11 families: Keep Guantanamo Bay open

http://bit.ly/O2uvS

Families of September 11 victims visiting Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Thursday urged the Obama administration to drop plans to close the facility and to restart terror trials there.

"I am opposed to the closing of this facility because of political reasons," said Gordon Haberman whose daughter, Andrea, was killed when terrorist planes struck the World Trade Center

[...]

"Our government's current executive order to halt the military commissions makes us foolish and weak, and invites more attacks," said Melissa Long, whose boyfriend was a first responder killed in New York. "What is fair and just is to continue the military commissions and punish those who have committed acts of terrorism against Americans, period."

Lately, maybe he has lost his mind, or maybe (like much of the "conservative movement") Cap'n Ed is simply doing what he gets paid to do.

__________

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/17/walter-cronkite-dead-at-92/

(Ed): [...] I have felt for a long time that both his fans and his opponents made far too much out of Cronkite, who was a good news reader [...]

- - Ed Morrissey

__________

?!?!?!? "GOOD NEWS READER" ?!?!?!?!?

Captain Ed, former citizen journalist, now paid by Malkin&Co., is full of crap - - and that's what he gets paid for.

Of course it's a good thing not to trust ANY individual or institution too much but Howard Kurtz reliably slaps together all the right wing themes today, and of course one of Kurtz's themes is that, instead of trusting CBS News, we should be paying more attention to right wing bloggers . . . like Ed Morrissey.

Ed Morrissey, who tells us that Walter Cronkite was a

?!?!?!? "GOOD NEWS READER" ?!?!?!?!?

I've worked at the old dairy building where Cronkite used to work on West 57th Street myself and I know the people there are mere mortals, not gods, but c'mon, Cronkite wasn't merely a broadcaster, and Ed Morrissey's statement is immensely ignorant and/or immensely dishonest.

?!?!?!? "GOOD NEWS READER" ?!?!?!?!?

I'm gonna let Uncle Walter answer that.

Here's a story Cronkite wrote in 1943, when he was working for UPI.

The story was published by the New York Times and elsewhere:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2009/07/walter-cronkite-in-a-flying-fortress-over-germany-1943.html

Saturday, February 27, 1943

[...] I have just returned with a Flying Fortress crew from Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

For two hours, I sat through a vicious gun duel with German Focke-Wulf 190 fighter planes and I saw what it was like to bomb Hitler on his home grounds.

We fought off Hitler's fighers and dodged his guns. The Fortress I rod in came back without damage. But we had the element of luck on our side.

Other formations caugh the blast of fighter blows and we watched Fortresses and Liberators plucked out of the formations around us. [...]

- - Walter Cronkite, journalist, 1943

__________

The NYT did a 2 page article on Cronkite today.

I grew up with the great journalism of Walter Cronkite's time. I remember as a child and preteen watching 'Your Were There", a rather corny history program, and hearing him on radio in the mid west. Yesterdays news watch much better than today's info entertainment. We even had news reels at the movies. They showed cartoons and news reels, before the movies started not, not obnoxious ads. I watched Cronkite cry with us when Kennedy died and was I in awe with him when the first man walked on the moon. Yet he will probalby get less attention that the moon walking Jackson.

I'm not sure a younger generation could even watch the news being presented without fanfare, pundits, and analysis as it was in Cronkite's day. In the 50 & 60s news was only 15 minutes, then increased to 1/2 hour, but we heard more news than today's nonstop, all day entertainment news.

There are no journalist on TV today that match up to Cronkite but Cronkite had control over his news show. When Cronkite came back for Vietnam he reported Vietnam was a stalemate and advocated for a negotiated peace. , Johnson said "If I've lost Walter, I've lost middle America."

He was alos a great liberal.