Comments on: Walter Cronkite, the last journalist, dies at 92

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:09:22 +0000

One of the greats – a simple man but also extraordinary. Too bad there are so few such people. Perhaps that’s how it always is relative to everything and everyone else. In any case, Walter Cronkite clearly delineated a model for all of us to follow.

Also, seems like the ’share’ isn’t working.

By: Col

Col — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:20:10 +0000

I’m too young to remember him much. But I’m glad to see this in the midst of the critiques on the media. We are lambasting the modern-day media because we want and need them (SO BADLY!) to become quality journalists again … not celebrities, gossips, or propagandists.

That said, I’m not overwhelmingly harsh in judging the modern day reporter. It’s hard to know exactly how or why people don’t follow important trends and allow themselves to mostly eat ‘junk news’. It’s also very hard to fight intimidation law suits or intimidating managers who want to please the bean-counters.

I still wonder why Obama hasn’t delved into the media ownership issue, reducing the fraction of media ownership limit in any given market…

…or maybe he has and we just aren’t hearing about it !

By: Christopher S. Johnson

Christopher S. Johnson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:39:00 +0000

OK, just confirmed with family, we didn’t move to this location until late May of that year. Is it possible that CBS re-ran some science stories during summer months, or that it was a follow up?

I definitely recall the other stories of the Iran hostage crisis and Olympic saber rattling.

By: Christopher S. Johnson

Christopher S. Johnson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:22:28 +0000

Wow. That may be it! How can we see that? All I know is that it was warm outside, it was 1980, and the story used a drawing of the Earth’s atmosphere.

But it may have been after school was out, which is in May, but I’m not sure. I may have to query my family.

How can I see that clip listed in the link above?

By: Jeff Huggins

Jeff Huggins — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:49:30 +0000

Thank you very much Christopher (#4) and Peter+Trudy (#7). Very helpful!

And thank you Walter!

Cheers,

Jeff

By: Peter+Trudy Johnson-Lenz

Peter+Trudy Johnson-Lenz — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:34:35 +0000

Christopher (#4), is this the 1980 broadcast you remember?

http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=270234

CBS Evening News for
Thursday, Apr 03, 1980
Headline: Coal / Pollution
Abstract:

(Studio) Coal as air pollutant, especially creating greenhouse effect by emission of carbon dioxide, featured. Senator Energy and Natural Resources committee hearing rptd
REPORTER: Walter Cronkite

(DC) Greenhouse effect explained. Scenes shown Effect on climate by carbon dioxide layer set forth. [Sen Energy Committee Paul TSONGAS - details effects.] [Mitre Corporation Chief Scientist Gordon MacDONALD - notes effect on Washington, DC weather.] Greenhouse warning compared to warning of biblical flood given Noah.
REPORTER: Nelson Benton

By: Jim Eaton

Jim Eaton — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:06:06 +0000

As a junior high school student, I remember Mr. Cronkite emotionally telling the nation that President John F. Kennedy had died, killed by an assassin. It was a moving moment.

And as dhogaza says, it’s hard to think of the first moon landing without thinking of Walter. His reporting took us through the launch, the fingernail-biting landing on the moon, and the journey home.

The world just lost an exceptional man. Thank you and good night, Walter Cronkite.

By: Jeff Huggins

Jeff Huggins — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:57:21 +0000

Deep Respect, and then a question for Christopher (#4)

What a great person, Walter Cronkite. Caring. Credibility. Trustworthiness.

Bravo to him!

He has my deepest respect.

Question to Christopher (#4): Can you say a bit more about hearing about the greenhouse effect in 1980 from Cronkite? Do you know the day, or the rough timing? Do you know whether there’s a clip on the web? Or a transcript? I’d love to hear what he said way back then.

Be Well,

Jeff

By: Christopher S. Johnson

Christopher S. Johnson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:11:01 +0000

Walter Cronkite taught me about the greenhouse effect in the summer of 1980 on CBS Evening News. My family was living in a single room in a friends home in Houston, TX, after a divorce. I was a sponge for information and I never, ever forgot about his description of the what happens when certain gasses reflect heat back onto the Earth.

It was 1980 and I never forgot.

-Christopher

By: Brewster

Brewster — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:47:31 +0000

He was the first news anchor I watched when we started to get US TV broadcasts in Canada… It gave me a deep respect for the news reporting of all TV networks.

Unfortunately, since then, I have noticed that not all have lived up to that standard.