They don’t make journalists like Walter Cronkite anymore

Journalist Walter Cronkite is dead at 92.

The word for “anchorman” in Swedish is kronkiter. That tells you an awful lot about how important Walter Cronkite was to broadcast journalism. He so thoroughly defined a role that the job took its name from him.

I believe his genius as a broadcaster was in coverage of the live event. He gathered information — as a reporter — then knew precisely when to use it (or, rather, download it). He learned how to talk over pictures and not insult the intelligence of viewers by explaining the obvious. He always knew the background, the interesting personal histories, of the people he was covering. And that’s what made his broadcasts superior to those of the other networks. 

He also was a great student. In the late 1950s, when he realized that the space race was coming, he learned everything he could about the tools and the technology. And that’s why he beat the socks off of all the other networks during the coverage of the space program in the 1960s. When the inevitable launch delays occurred, all the other networks could say was, “Well . . . there appears to be some delay. The rocket is still on the launching pad . . . .” But Walter not only knew the problem, he could tell us about it in terms we could understand. 

This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2009.