http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/9017BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
BY George Gerber
Walter Cronkite has left us. He was without a doubt a journalist who truly earned the title. His deep, mellow, trusting voice long ago gave way to a new breed of pseudo journalists. A breed with coiffed hair, slick slogans, and the best in technology and glitz; a breed that now rules the airwaves. I am sure they are all nice people, but few can honestly be called journalists; they are news act ors. They take their cues from the earpieces hidden by their freshly starched hairdos. Their speech, their look, their political leanings are all selected by corporate giants who want you to see and hear only what they merrily spoon feed you during the nightly news broadcasts. Some of them stand up and wander around the stage during their broadcast because some corporate ad man felt that would keep the masses tuned in to their broadcasts. When they do sit down they often look uncomfortable and have no idea what to do with their legs. And this foolish walkabout trick can never be substituted for the elegant, seated majesty of a journalist we fondly call “Uncle Walter.”
When Walter Cronkite gave you the evening news, he gave you the truth. With a simple backdrop, no fancy graphics and screen crawls, he was the consummate journalist. He understood the meaning and impact of the news he delivered to us. His professionalism never faltered. It was a vocation he spent his whole life refining. He did not need to stroll around the stage. He did not need intricate graphics and electronic visual aids. He did not need to proclaim every few minutes that he and his team were the best in the business. Everyone knew it; he was the best in the business.
It was a sad day when he was forced to retire at age sixty five. He told us that evening, on his last newscast, not to worry. He said he would be leaving the evening news but would be around. His announcement, Uncle Walter style, was, in retrospect, the death knell of American television journalism.
Once in a while great men and women walk among us. Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Luis Pastor, Marie Curie, John Kennedy, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking are but a few. Each was unique to his generation and moved the people in the most profound ways. Each enriched the world in which we live. I believe “Uncle Walter” is such a man. Perhaps his passing will be honored with less pomp and circumstance than others on the list of greatness. But he will be missed just the same. And that’s the way it is, Friday, July17th, 2009.
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