REMEMBERING WALTER CRONKITE

Remembering Walter Cronkite




Whenever I think about viewing television during my childhood days, there are groups of personalities that come to mind. Only one newscaster fills my memories during that era of my life. That was Walter Cronkite.


My earliest memories of watching the news centers around CBS and news man Walter Cronkite. He was the only newscaster that my grandparents would watch. I remember him sitting at the desk, looking serious and delivering the stories of the day. He always spoke in a tone that indicated that whatever event he was covering was serious.


During that era of television there was no on the air banter during news broadcasts. The national news aired at 6:30 in the evening. It was on the air for thirty minutes. The video footage was in black and white.




Until I grew older, it was the most boring thirty minutes of television programming in our household. The news was only important to adults at that time. My grandparents demanded that I sit quietly or play without disturbing their focus. I can remember feeling relieved when Cronkite finally wrapped up his broadcast for the evening. We could change the channel and watch a show that I was interested in watching. Or I could settle down and watch whatever came on CBS.


There were times when the news would get my attention. Some of my earliest memories of watching the news were during the boycotts and street battles of the Civil Rights Era. We seldom saw “colored” people in the news. I was still too young to understand that I was watching our story unfold on the screen. It was shocking to me to see people being beaten and hosed in the streets. My grandmother would often grunt in agony as she watched the brutality. My grandfather sat in his chair, smoking a Philip Morris cigarette and staring stone face and silent.

When I look back at my childhood now, I realize that Walter Cronkite was the man who opened the door of the world in my life. Some of the most important historical events of my lifetime were aired during his time on television. As I grew older and more interested in current events, I would actually make time to watch the news. Walter Cronkite was my newscaster of choice. I would sit in front of the television in my bedroom and watch him deliver the news.

I cannot think of any contemporary news people that come across the screen as classy.
Nor can I think of any contemporary newscaster that has a delivery style like Cronkite.
His delivery style was sincere and no non-sense. It was a dignified straight up delivery of events.

Many of the contemporary news staffers should take note of Cronkite’s on the air personality. Give us the news, spare us the snarkiness and do so in a manner that leads us to believe that whatever story is being aired has meaning.