When It Was News
Just half an hour per day with Cronkite, and we had more news - more essential information - than we get from 24-hour coverage today.
Wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that Cronkite never covered sports, weather, gossip, local crime, celebrities or Murrow forbid "entertainment."
48 times more coverage today, and we're one-forty-eighth as informed.
Cronkite stepped down from the news desk in 1980, and broadcast news has been going downhill ever since. Here's one reason why:
On Feb. 27, 1968, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite broadcast an editorial criticizing the escalation of U.S. forces in Vietnam. In the aftermath of the Tet offensive, Cronkite had traveled to Vietnam to interview soldiers and civilians. Returning to the United States, Cronkite shared his observations with the American public. In favor of diplomatic negotiations, Cronkite rejected President Lyndon B. Johnson's optimism for further military deployment to end the standoff between U.S. and Viet Cong forces. In a 1996 interview, Cronkite remembers the effect his editorial had on President Johnson, who was reported to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."
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2 comments:
Isn't this the sad truth. Since when did Jon & Kate become actual news? Or what Michael Jackson had for breakfast the day he died? Who cares about all this crap?
I used to watch the Today Show, but now out of 4 hours if I miss the first 30 min. I might as well not even watch.
I much prefer to get my news from The Daily Show. Now what does that say?
keila
Wanna know what it says, Keila? It says a) you want to get news you can rely on, and b) you have a sense of humor.
Can't be bad. Oh, and BTW, I used to watch the Today show as well, but left it shortly after they got rid of Jane Pauley.
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