The king is dead. And no, I don’t mean the seriously over-covered and probable pedophile Michael Jackson. I mean Walter Cronkite, the king of TV anchors and one of the last anchors who could legitimately be considered a true reporter.
Cronkite was the most-respected man in America during the glorious days when news mattered more than opinion on television, when we cared more about international affairs than we did about whether Brad Pitt twitters while in the restroom or his views on viewing porn at work.
In those days an anchor was expected to be first and foremost a journalist, not a refugee from a morning entertainment program or a reality show. Of course, expectations were higher then for presidential candidates, too.
Speaking of Cronkite, in my first book I noted how his replacement by Dan Rather as CBS anchor reflected changing priorities in television news, with a dramatic change in the set design to complement Rather’s skin tone and, in the words of Cronkite biographer Doug James: “CBS News temporarily worked out of its Washington studios while the entire New York set was transformed from Cronkite’s slightly worn-looking newsroom to Captain Kirk’s bridge aboard the starship Enterprise.”
Finally, speaking of my books, a personal note: I recently was honored to find that my latest book had been one of six finalists for the Frank Luther Mott/Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award for the best book on journalism and mass communication based on original research published in 2008.
I didn’t finish in the top 3 (though a friend of mine won), but as they all say at the Oscars–it’s an honor just to be nominated. Previous winners of the award (given since 1944) have included Robert McChesney, John Naisbitt and David Halberstam.
James McPherson's Media & Politics Blog 