In Memorium: Walter Leland Cronkite

One of my childhood heroes has died, Gentle Reader, and even though he officially retired years ago, I’m going to miss him - and what he stood for as a man and a journalist.

I’m speaking of “Uncle Walter,” the man for whom the term “anchor” was originally coined back in the early 1950s, one of the most objective reporters, and one of the most trusted men in journalism.

Getting to know him and trust him was hard for me; you see, for many years, I thought he had made my mother cry. In fact, he did, but not out of any desire to be mean. He was simply the one who announced that JFK had been shot, and was also the one who informed her that her favorite president had died.

She was a big fan of both Mr. Cronkite and As The World Turns, which happened to be airing at the time Mr. Cronkite announced the shooting - in a voice-over manner, as the New York CBS studio had been taken by surprise and had no “warmed-up” cameras available. Cameras were tube-type back in the day, and used expensive tubes costing, by today’s money, hundreds of dollars per minute to operate - and took a long time to warm to operating temperatures.

I’ve seen the footage of that whole broadcast several times in the past, watched parts of it again this afternoon online, and I must say that I’m glad Uncle Walter was the one to break the news to my mom.

Mr. Cronkite was obviously distressed and much saddened when bringing this news to the country, but did not falter, flub, race to conclusions, break into histrionic displays of emotion, or editorialize. He did exactly what we all hope someone who has bad news to bring us will do: Simply tell us, warmly and compassionately, without improvising or losing one’s head.

It was around my 8th birthday before I learned to put much trust in Mr. Cronkite; Mom had explained to me several times that it was the news, not the bearer, which had made her cry and plop down on the couch that horrible afternoon, but I was a hard sale on the issue.

Then came Apollo 11, with all the excitement and fervor and patriotism. And there was Uncle Walter, right in the thick of things, gleeful as any one of my school chums about it.

Mr. Cronkite never minimized the dangers or the tremendous cost of the space program, nor did he over-emphasise its importance; again, he merely reported the news to the best of his ability.

By rolling up his sleeves and getting into the nitty-gritty, he did something amazing.

I guess the best way to explain it was that Apollo 11’s mission was reported by Walter Cronkite, but Walter Cronkite wasn’t the inventor or curator of the Apollo mission simply because he covered it on his nighly news show. He didn’t claim to own it, merely took pride in reporting it.

It was our mission, and we were glad he brought it to us with the accuracy and professionalism he did.

Mr. Cronkite had a history of reporting NASA news in that manner; as far back as the late 1950s, he mixed objective reporting and props from NASA with a good measure of pride in his voice so that people who had a hard time imagining the power of a rocket and the concept of flinging something into orbit could get their heads around the stuff without drifting away because they didn’t agree with whomever was presenting the information.

Mr. Cronkite had a favorite closing line: “That’s the way it was… July 4th, 1969″ - but he was obsessive about using it only when he felt his presentation of the news was without coloration or inflection.

Uncle Walter’s reports from Vietnam opened my eyes to the situation, and I began paying a lot more attention to the war, at eight years old - going so far as to buy newspapers so I could learn more about what was going on.

And it was around that time that I truly became a “Cronk-ite” - a real fan - because I learned I could understand how he felt about what he was reporting by watching his eyes.

Mr. Cronkite could keep his voice even, and speak in perfect English without emotional inflection, from hastily scribbled notes, without breaking or flubbing.

Or editorializing.

And that, Gentle Reader, is the mark of a true journalist. The ability to report the news, without injecting one’s own opinion, without faltering or crumbling beneath the task, yet still have a way to “let on” what is going on inside.

You could read the impact the story he was reporting had upon him by merely watching his expressive eyes. No hype, no hysteria - but a feeling.

‘I’m happier than all get-out to have the privilege of telling you about this’ - or - ‘I hope you’re chuckling right now because I am, on the inside’ - or - ‘I would rather have a mouthful of shit than have these words in my mouth right now, but the news is the news and you need to hear it.’

Unspoken, but very, very clear.

I’m on my way out the door to enjoy dinner, Gentle Reader, but before I hang up the keyboard I’d like to mention one other bit of minutia. Walter Cronkite was never impressed with the concept of 24-hour news channels, but he did feel that our country had enough stories to tell to fuel a 24-hour cable channel which focused on accurate, detailed storytelling. If you enjoy the family of Discovery channels, you have his inspiration and continued mentorship to thank.

And if you happen to be reading this, Mr. Cronkite, please forgive my formality. I never met you in person, we are not on a first or last name basis - but you have helped shaped my understanding of our country and our planet in many ways. I am grateful.

~ pagemonkey