So long, "Uncle Walter"

The news that Walter Cronkite is gone generates many memories for those of us who grew up watching “Uncle Walter.”

Some of the most memorable Cronkite broadcasts are on YouTube, such as the announcement of President Kennedy’s death and his famous commentary about the Vietnam War . 

The latter reminds one of how the news media’s role has changed since that 1968 broadcast.   Contrast it with the coverage of the Iraq invasion; the acceptance by news organizations that Iraq was linked to 9/11 and had WMDs, that the Iraq adventure would be a “cakewalk” and that we would be welcomed as “liberators.”

Though young people, such as your truly, who aspired to be news broadcasters, sometimes made fun of the stodgy Cronkite delivery, his professionalism and the trust he engendered from his viewers set a very high standard for electronic journalism. 

Sadly, Cronkite lived to see that standard dip, as noted in an obit from The Nation:

So it should come as little surprise that what worried Cronkite in the last years of his life was the collapse of journalistic quality and responsibility that came with the increasing dominance of newsgathering by a handful of media corporations.

“I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that,” Cronkite told me the last time we spoke about media issues.

Indeed we do.  Let’s hope its not too late to recapture it.  We need more brave people who are willing to tell us the truth, even when it is sure not to increase popularity or generate more ad dollars.

That’s the way he was.  Thanks, Mr. Cronkite.

Roger Ebert was a fan.  Chicago newspaperman Rob Feder was a friend.

More Cronkite video here .

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It’s good to see IEA Organizer Dan Chambers is resuming his blog, From The Ground Up.   Dan’s insights about the labor movement and other important topics have been missing from the IEA Website for too long.  Check it out. 

Welcome back, Dan.

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Speaking of the Website, in a few weeks, we hope to have a new look and better functionality at this address.   Webmaster Dan Billingsley is working hard to make it happen, so just keep www.ieanea.org bookmarked and, one day soon, you’ll be having (we hope) an enhanced cyber-experience.

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The music of Brian Wilson is a perfect soundtrack for a day such as this, especially when one of the Beach Boys founder’s most beautiful compositions is sung by one of the great voices in American pop music, Vince Gill.  Enjoy.

charlie.mcbarron@ieanea.org