Fellow Anchors: Cronkite the Gold Standard

Charles Gibson, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams on the Way It Was, and How TV News Has Evolved

(CBS)  Walter Cronkite was "the gold standard, and remains so, and always will be so."

The tribute from "ABC World News" Anchor and Managing Editor Charles Gibson summed up a three-way discussion on "The Early Show Saturday Edition" of the place in history of Cronkite, longtime managing editor and anchor of the "CBS Evening News" and a true broadcasting giant.

Also taking part, Tom Brokaw, former anchor and managing editor of the "NBC Nightly News," and his successor, Brian Williams.

Tossing questions their way was CBS "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith.

Special Section: Walter Cronkite: 1916-2009

They remembered how news meant everything to a self-effacing Cronkite, then reflected on how TV news has changed since the days of only three network evening newscasts, with the advent of 24/7 cable TV news and the evolution of the entertainment industry in general.

And they disagreed over whether those changes are good for the nation.

Cronkite, Gibson said, "basically invented" the anchorman job, "and there was no flash and dash in the news in those days. It was Walter in front of a desk. And it was always about the news. You always felt that. . . .

"In 1963, he started a half-hour broadcast. Very few people remember that the evening newscasts were 15 minutes until 1963. He began it with an interview of John Kennedy ... and then it was not long after that that he was reporting on Kennedy's death. But he really did set the standard for all of us who have followed in his footsteps."

Brokaw portrayed Cronkite as someone who "loved New York. He missed very few Broadway openings or movie premieres, with his beloved (wife) Betsy at his side. You always knew it was going to be a good evening if Walter and Betsy were there. We shared many anecdotes, drinks, dinner, and always a laugh, always a laugh. . . .

"What I always felt was quite remarkable about Walter was that he was so much a man of New York, but at the same time, he was the personification of Main Street. You looked at Walter Cronkite, you said, 'Uncle Walter.' ... As Charles was just saying, we're all beneficiaries of the standards that he set.

"I dare say I have to give some tribute to Chet Huntley and David Brinkley (of "The Huntley-Brinkley Report, a fierce competitor of Cronkite's "Evening News") in the early days. ... When network news first began, it could have gone in a lot of different directions. But it became a very serious enterprise, and Walter, of course, took it to heights that no one could have imagined."

Cronkite, Brokaw continued, "was a generous man. When I was a young reporter covering Watergate in Washington, I ran into him at one of those White House correspondents' dinners, and he came right over to me and said some very nice things about my work and patted me on the shoulder and said, 'Young man, we're keeping an eye on you!' And along the way, we became great friends.

"And there is a story that I think pretty well summed him up. When I was leaving 'The Today Show' to do the 'NBC Nightly News," ("Doonesbury creator) Gary Trudueau and (his wife) Jane Pauley (longtime 'Today Show" co-host) gave a small dinner for me and Walter and Betsy were there, and by then we had become friends.

"And Walter stood up to give a toast and said, 'I want you to keep something in mind: There will be a night when you think you've done everything right on a big story and you'll have an enormous sense of pride. And then you'll walk out of your office onto the streets of New York and there, in New York alone, will be millions of people who didn't see anything that you had done.' And I think that was very helpful to me.

"And Walter had that kind of perspective. Listen, he was very proud to be who he was, he loved being Walter Cronkite. But at the same time, no one could mock Walter Cronkite more effectively than he could."

Gibson said Cronkite didn't like it at all when people tried to make the broadcast about him, even suggesting he run for office since he was widely regarded - and named in one survey - as "the most trusted man in America."

To Cronkite, Gibson said, "It was not about Walter. And so much of this business has gotten to the point where it's about the people who are on the air. And Walter always made sure that you understood it was about the news. And indeed, as he preached to those of us who came up in the business after him, that was always what he was talking about. And I think you sensed that always when you watched him. Tom makes an interesting point. We were very fortunate, I think, in this business and as a result, I think the country fortunate, that people like Chet and David at NBC and Walter at CBS really set the standards."

Williams, admitting it's "unfashionable to say this," asserted that, "In one aspect, we were a little bit better off as a country when we only had two, three choices in the evening to watch. In this respect, it did give us a communal experience. ... (There wasn't) much diversity of media or viewpoint there, but it gave us a kind of a central notion of our nation and our world. ... And for there to be, back during (Cronkite's) dominant years, one guy who was, as my friend put it, addressing the nation instead of doing the evening news, what a tremendous responsibility. And he wore it so well, as kind of an "Aw, shucks' guy from Missouri."

"The last thing I want to do is disagree with my colleague," Brokaw remarked, "but I think we have to work harder at it now. I think the country is, probably, when you stand back, better to off to have the many choices that it has. There were some big stories that the evening news and all of its glory ... didn't pay quite enough attention to. We saw the world through the prism of white, middle-aged men who lived mostly on the Eastern seaboard. That was fine with me - I expected to be one of them. But at the same time, we didn't take the women's movement seriously enough at the beginning, for example. We missed a lot about science and medicine that was important, and breakthroughs in cancer. It was pretty much Washington-oriented and internationally, obviously, it got a good deal of attention. And now, you just have to work harder at it. There are many more choices out there. This is an information-rich society in which we live."

[DJ Wels]

Walter will be greatly missed! I made a Walter Cronkite tribute song. It's pretty cool, I made the entire thing only by scratching with turntables and records. You can download it for free at

http://www.zshare.net/audio/63053595fd0a01c5/

I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!
~DJ Wels

[ArmandB]

It seems that the current broadcasters know what good broadcasting is, they define it while praising Cronkite. The trouble is that they can't seem to live up to the standard. An example is Obama, they can't seem to find any words but praise for anything he does. I guess they just can't stand the heat, knowing they will be called racist for any negitive comment. Well with no free press, there will be no freedom soon. Obama will see to that and the press won't say a word about it.

[rjfromjersey]

Mr. Cronkite presented an example that helped many a young man understand that a person with integrity can make a difference in this world. I dedicate this short verse in his memory:

In Memory of Walter Cronkite

Thank you Uncle Walter, for giving us the news,
Sharing all your vision, telling us your views.
You chronicled our lives for us, in a crazy mixed up time,
Presenting all the stories, of wars and space and crime,
We felt the trusted spirit, you shared with us each night,
You stood for greater principles, than always being right.
You set a great example, that many emulated,
And never gave a minute?s thought to the legend you created.
Humility was in your heart, as you stood with kings and men,
No matter where the story was, you?d be there again.
We learned so much about the world while listening to your voice,
We even shared some special times where we could all rejoice.
In moments of great sadness, where we were struck with grief,
You stayed the course and spoke the words, that helped us find relief.
You never tried to goad us, you told us like it was,
Great men took your opinions, and helped to end bad wars.
So Walter we will miss you, Sir, on this terrestrial ball
We pray that you present the news, in Heaven?s mighty Hall.

Robert J. Krass (c) 2009

[borg99]

It wasn't his actual nose for news that made him beloved, it was his authoritative yet genial way of reading it. With both Cronkite and Reagan, it wasn't so much what they did as how they made us feel -- that everything was all right, that Dad was in control.

But the nostalgic tone of this page is wrong -- Cronkite's era was no better than this one. Some things were better, some worse. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis and air-raid drills; rampant segregation in New York City along with constant street crime; choking air in the time before New York's incinerator ban and the advent of car pollution controls.

In every age, there are people who say we're going to the dogs and who pine for good old days that never existed. If you want a life and a world with no worries, you came to the wrong planet.

[ivehadit9]

It's amazing how age gives perspective...

I was only 2 years old when JFK died. Soon after, word started leaking that he may have had an affair with Marilyn Monroe. LBJ's personal behavior was boorish and, in spite of his great Civil Rights Act acheivement, he appeared to be clueless in handling the Vietnam war. We could see and feel this. Prior to this time, the media generally respected the private lives and pecadilloes of our leaders (perhaps with the "boys will be boys" attitude). Reporting the extramarital affairs of presidents was considered taboo in those days.

The Vietnam war was lost by us, the American people. Militarily, we kicked the crap out of the enemy, especially during the Tet offensive, but it didn't matter. The Congress cut off all the funds needed to carry out more bombing missions in Hanoi. All we could see were the VC erupting all over the place and invading the grounds of the US Embassy. We could also see that the information being given us by our military commanders and politicians was a smokescreen. Body counts, troop assessments, strategic situations were all portrayed by them as positives when, in fact, they were being manipulated by our leaders into stretches of the truth, if not downright lies.

I can remember a meeting between one of our commanders in Paris with an NV general (Sorry, I don't remember the dates or names, but probably around 1975.) Our commander said to the NV general, "We beat you pretty good." The NV general said, "It doesn't matter."

Of course, while all that was going on, Watergate erupted. Nixon had beaten McGovern soundly, carrying 49 out of 50 states, but the two reporters from the Washington Post got on the story like a pair of junk yard dogs. At every turn, they found that the Nixon administration was lying about virtually everything. Finally, Nixon resigned. He had three options: 1) to keep quiet, but to do that in the face of the accusations being made would have led to an assumption of guilt and possibly a move to impeach; 2) to admit everything, which would have guaranteed impeachment; or 3) to resign.

At this point, 1974, we all had seen enough. We were now conditioned by our leaders and our media for a reprise of an old joke: How can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving.

Then followed Gerald Ford, a very brave and decent man who sacrificied his own political future to save the nation from a national political bloodbath, only to be succeeded by the disaster that was the Jimmy Carter administration.

Is it any wonder that we are now so cynical, so distrustful, so conspiratorial? To blame Walter Cronkite for any of that is absolutely ridiculous.

Our media and our politicians are reflections of us. If they have gotten so bad, it is because we have, too.

If any of you want to stop the polarization, the negativity, and the cynicism, it has to start in your heart and in your mind.

Well done, Mr. Cronkite. Rest in peace.

[newsfanatic]

It is indeed a sad day for Journalism to lose a man of Cronkite's stature.
It is ashame how CBS has treated all of their anchors after their use to the network is up. Murrow, Cronkite, Rather.
I don't care if Rather has a lawsuit against CBS they should have included an interview or at the very least a comment.

[althotos]

Why are we losing all the good people? Walter was iconic in American journalism, someone we trusted and looked to for the truth. Another candle has gone out in our society. Thank you and God bless you, Walter Cronkite.

[dowell100]

Yes, Cronkite was the "gold standard." He was the best of "old journalism," that is to say honest journalism.

I want to to ateend this real American heroes send off at Staples Center. Millions want them, I know, but I'd still like to go to Staples Center and honor a decent person.