All Blog Posts from Public Eye

Public Eye takes you back to 1965, when abortions were not legal in the United States. In this broadcast, Walter Cronkite reported on the "legal, moral and medical aspects" of the abortion debate in America and around the globe..Click on the video box to watch.

In an early attempt at journalistic transparency, CBS News shot a phone interview between Jimmy Hoffa and Walter Cronkite on two cameras in April 1964. "In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story," said Cronkite. So here they are side by side. Click on the video box to watch.

Public Eye takes you back to 1965, when abortions were not legal in the United States. In this broadcast, Walter Cronkite reported on the "legal, moral and medical aspects" of the abortion debate in America and around the globe..Click on the video box to watch.

"I think you get one of those a career in my line of work," he said. "[Walter] Cronkite chose to use his chit on the Vietnam War that he witnessed. But I think you only get one."

--Brian Williams, talking with the Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rosenthal, sharing his views about whether network news anchors should branch out into opinion. Williams is reportedly interested in having Keith Olbermann do occasional essays on "The NBC Nightly News.”

In this week's edition of "From The Vault," we bring you "Biography Of A Bookie Joint," originally shown on Nov 30, 1961. This is actually a rebroadcast from 1963 – the first time the "controversial" broadcast aired it was not shown in Massachusetts, as Walter Cronkite explains in the introduction. Click on the video box to see Cronkite tell the story of organized gambling – with the aid of a hidden camera.

On Friday night, CBS aired a special celebrating the life of Walter Cronkite. It was an entertaining and informative affair, full of interviews with boldface names and fascinating video clips from Cronkite's prime.

It was also the kind of program that can't help but lead one to reflect on where things stand in the media business today. And not just because it was immediately followed by "A Dr. Phil Primetime Special: Caged?" (Which, to be fair, might have been perfectly fine. I didn't watch it.)

I'm not going to get into whether or not the news is better or worse than it used to be – we've been there before. But I do want to discuss the impact of the rise of media criticism, which has become an ever-increasing part of the American media landscape. In the past 40 years, we've seen the debate over the Pentagon Papers and the characterization of the press as "nattering nabobs of negativism" (and worse), as well as the rise of mainstream media blogs like this one and the increasing influence of well-funded partisan media criticism outfits and self-appointed media watchdogs.

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This week's installment of "From The Vault" features Walter Cronkite's visit to the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle. Unfortunately, there is some audio interference in the second half of the recording, but on the plus side, a talking, smoking robot makes an appearance around the 14:20 mark. Click on the video box to watch. And if that's not enough Cronkite for you, be sure to check out tonight's primetime special.

Here's the latest installment in our "From The Vault" series, in which we provide video from CBS News broadcasts past to give a sense of how the show has changed. Click on the video box to watch an episode of the "CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite" from January 17, 1975.

We've done a few posts examining whether the "Evening News" has gotten better or worse, and we wanted to continue that discussion by posting this video of Walter Cronkite's report on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

It's a bare-bones affair – just Cronkite sitting at his desk explaining what had happened, his only visual aide four pictures he holds up for the camera. I've heard the argument that improved technology and storytelling have made the "Evening News" a better product, and there's certainly something to that. But the starkness and simplicity of Cronkite's report seems exactly right for the gravity of the news he is delivering, and I feel like computer animation or slick graphics could only have diminished it.

Anyway, you can click on the video box to watch the report. It runs about three minutes.

"Consolidation and cost cutting may be good for the bottom line in the short term, but that isn't necessarily good for the country or the health of the news business in the long term."

--former CBS "Evening News" anchor Walter Cronkite, speaking yesterday at Columbia University.