Like most people I was saddened to learn of Walter Cronkite's passing this weekend. It clearly marks the end of an era. However, odd as it sounds, my sense of loss was mostly "historical" in kind. Whether things seem retrospective or not, there is no doubt that Walter Cronkite left an indelible mark in the country, the industry & defined the term "news anchor." According to Dan Rather, the man who replaced him [after he retired], Cronkite "walked us through history." He was the one people turned to when the Kennedys were shot, when MLK was shot, & when man walked on the moon for the first time. In fact, according to EIN News, a global news service I read this weekend, his name has become the term for news anchors in Sweden & Holland. For example in Sweden these folks are called "Kronkiters*." I don't think today's generation of news consumers can have the same emotional connection to the event. For me the sudden loss of Tim Russert was far more significant even though his role was somewhat different. Generation is everything I guess.
That's The Way It Was
If that's true, who are the people today's twenty year olds will look to for trusted reportage. Roger Simon of Politico? Arrianna Huffington of the Huffington Post? Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report? I don't think so. The problem with looking to news reporters on the web is that there is no mistaking a reporter's political leanings. Unlike Cronkite & Russert, there is no one on the web who comes to mind that even tries to report just the unvarnished news [read; without bias]. He was known as the "most trusted man in America" & those are mighty "big shoes to fill." Rather may be respected but he couldn't come close. Most people don't watch the news at 6PM nightly anymore. Why should we be so restricted when it can be obtained on a computer, a mobile phone, or an ipod? Who will be the web's "Kronkiter" or is the model gone forever? According to the newsclips, Cronkite used to end his show with the line "and that's the way its." Today it's perhaps more accurate to say "and that's the way it was."
*Whether or not the term "Kronkiter" means news anchor is disputed by some bloggers. Since the idea comes from some credible sources including Cronkite himself in his memoir, I'm guessing it was more commonly known in Cronkite's time as an anchor but it's a guess.