Lest we forget, Walter Cronkite also

[PCIntern]

hosted the CBS program "The Twentieth Century" which was a remarkable show on weekly, I think Sundays, back when Sundays had very very high quality afternoon and early evening TV programming, not wall-to-wall sports.

His voice defined the history of the times especially WWII. It was memorable.

[Georgia farmer]

1. Lest we forget, Walter Cronkite also

Do you think if the internet had been around, he would have
been as influential?

[cwydro]

2. Welcome to DU!

Who knows?

He lived when he lived and I'll never forget him.

[Spazito]

4. Yes, very much so...

The reason the networks are losing viewers/support is because of their lack of integrity, the lack of factual news and the preponderance of propagandized infotainment.

People are going to the internet to find that which is no longer available in the MSM.

There is an even greater thirst for integrity and truth such as that practiced by Mr. Cronkite now that the networks, with their empty-headed anchors/readers offer nothing in that regard.

[Uncle Joe]

6. I agree with your take on the situation regarding lack of integrity, lack of factual or substantive

news and the preponderance of propagandized infotainment.

But I believe the institution of one way television's time is passing as well and even great journalists such as Walter or Edgar Murrow would have seen a certain amount of diminishment to their stature if nothing else from less exposure due to increased choices via Internet and a fragmentation of the audience.

Having said that I do believe they would've remained popular with the people as trusted sources of real news.

[Spazito]

9. I thought about whether, due to the introduction of the internet and...

even more, the technological changes that have occurred, their influence would have been diminished and came to the conclusion I believe it would not have diminished.

Relatively speaking, the technological changes which occurred during their time of prominence, especially wrt Mr. Cronkite, they not only changed along with it, they welcomed it and I think they would have done the same were now to have been their time of prominence.

What may well have been different is neither man would have been welcomed by the MSM for their integrity and commitment to the truth and unvarnished facts, the current MSM would have, instead, tried to belittle and diminish them, such is the sorry state of the media today.

[Uncle Joe]

14. I believe they would be in the same boat as Bill Moyers, how many times

have the corporate media had him on a talk show? I belive Moyers stands head and shoulder above any corporate media journalist but I would wager a large percentage of Americans don't even know of him.

I do agree with your belief that Walter would have welcomed the democratization of information via the Internet, he was secure in his integrity.

Edit for P.S. If the corporate media did have Moyers on talks shows, I don't beleive they could do the quality of his perspective justice.

[Spazito]

16. I agree re Bill Moyers...

Someone posted the question as to whether there was anyone remaining who held the same principles as Mr. Cronkite and his ilk and another poster named Bill Moyers and, reflecting on that, I can't help but agree he certainly comes the closest.

[Mind_your_head]

23. +1

Integrity and character is not valued any longer in this society. Back then, it had GREAT VALUE. I hope we will "come around" again to value integrity and character. If we don't we're really and truly rudderless and lost/adrift.

[Lex]

5. I wonder what he thought of the screaming, bleating, & crying at Faux News

and that sort of tabloid yellow journalism. Probably made him feel pretty glad he lived when he lived.

[lunatica]

13. He would have KEPT television influential and it wouldn't be

overshadowed by the internet just like radio isn't overshadowed by it. Without him tv news has become more and more irrelevant.

[Strong Atheist]

20. Welcome to DU!!

:toast:

[LiberalAndProud]

3. That was a great show. I was a kid, but I loved that show.

[NoPasaran]

7. I remember that show

[havocmom]

8. Growing up, that was my favorite program

Made me a history buff, because it demonstrated how much you could really learn about a time, a place, a people by fleshing out the subject. Taught me to be a conscious observer and that has served me well in life.

[PCIntern]

11. ...and great theme music to boot!!!

I was a kid/adolescent from 1957-66 but was enthralled by the experience of watching it.

[havocmom]

15. Yeah, thanks for the reminder

Come to think of it, my favorite tv showing of the New Years Concert in Vienna is the one that Cronkite hosted. He was perfect, just the right amount of interesting commentary and historical context.

[lpbk2713]

10. If I Recall Correctly ...

'Victory at Sea' was on just before 20th Century. I used to watch them both regularly.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[PCIntern]

12. Great show with very high-quality music

especially composed for the show by whatsisname...

on edit: Richard Rodgers (yes, of musical fame!)

From Wiki:

Salomon also signed Richard Rodgers, fresh off several hit Broadway musicals, to compose the musical score. Rodgers contributed 12 "themes"- short piano compositions a minute or two in length; these may be examined in the Rodgers Collection at the Library of Congress. Robert Russell Bennett did the scoring, transforming Rodgers's themes to fit a variety of moods, and composing much more original material than Rodgers, as may be observed in Bennett's inked scores, microfilmed at the Library of Congress. Nonetheless, Bennett received credit only for arranging the score and conducting NBC Symphony Orchestra members on the soundtrack recording sessions, and many writers still refer erroneously to "Rodgers's thirteen-hour score." Rodgers recorded excerpts from the music with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for Columbia Records, but it was Bennett who made the more familiar RCA recordings with the Symphony of the Air, an orchestra created in the fall of 1954 from former NBC Symphony members, identified on the albums as the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra.

RCA's record division sold the Rodgers-Bennett musical score in four different album versions, released on LP and CD.

The movements and approximate timings in the RCA Symphony performance are as follows; 1. The Song of the High Seas - 5:03 2. The Pacific Boils Over - 5:45 3. Fire on the Waters - 5:58 4. Guadalcanal March - 3:08 5. Pelelieu - 3:43 6. Theme of the Fast Carriers - 6:49 7. Hard Work and Horseplay - 3:44 8. Mare Nostrum - 4:31 9. Beneath the Southern Cross - 4:06 10.Mediterranean Mosaic - 5:03 11.Allies on the March - 5:26 12.D-Day - 5:54 13.The Sound of Victory - 6:15 14.Victory at Sea - 6:11

The score was a favorite of US President Richard Nixon

[lpbk2713]

18. I had to look it up ...

'Victory at Sea' was on in its original run 1952-53 but it ran in syndication until 1960. So maybe it was on before 'Twentieth Century' or maybe it was not. My memory is not so reliable these days. :eyes:

And Richard Rodgers also scored 'South Pacific', the stage and screen versions. He was very prolific.

[Serenades]

17. need

I'd rather watch wall-to-wall sports on Sundays or spend time with family. We need a break from the BS for a day.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

19. I'm guessing

that you've never had to struggle with any conflict over reading a book or watching sports on TV.

Your comment is probably the dumbest I've ever seen on DU.

Congratulations..................

[Gidney N Cloyd]

21. I looked up "The Twentieth Century" because ...

...the title didn't sound quite right and now I think I'm losing my mind. :crazy:

I swear there was a show on late Sunday afternoons in the mid to late 60's about technical advances predicted for the 21st Century. I remember calculating then that I'd be forty-{COUGH} years old when all the cool stuff would happen. And I could have sworn that Uncle Walter hosted it.

But I look him up on IMDB and the closest I can find is a show called "The 21st Century" that ran for all of 2 episodes. Maybe over the years I've confused that show with something that ran longer.
Ring a bell with anyone?

[Garbo 2004]

22. Info on 20th Century documentary program:

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/the20thcent/the20thcent.htm

There also was a show on 21st Century (1967-70)which he narrated. http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=cronkitewal

[Gidney N Cloyd]

24. 67-70 would be perfectly add up!

I did a little more surfing and I'm suspecting IMDB was WAY wrong on the dates.

[PCIntern]

25. I think if you try WIki, your

questions will be answered!!!

[checks-n-balances]

26. That program was part of my education

as well as the ORIGINAL "Biography" series.

I would say that it's the End of an Era, but that happened awhile ago when network news went for profit.

[Individualist]

27. He also hosted "You Are There"

I always watched it. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1480691