Walter Cronkite at the CBS News desk, covering the 1980 election, which was his last as the network's news anchor.America's News Broadcasting Pioneer Passes Away
Former CBS Evening News Anchor Walter Cronkite dead at 92.
Former CBS Evening News Anchor Walter Cronkite dead at 92.
Not many still walk the Earth that can rightly hold a claim to the prestigious title of being a television pioneer, let alone a television news pioneer. Tonight, the world loses one more of that class.
Walter Cronkite passed on Friday evening at his home in New York City. He succumbed in battling a long illness, believed to be cerebral vascular disease. After 92 years in life, and a long colorful career, he reached the sunset of his days on Earth.
Cronkite was well known as "the most trusted man in America", especially after a poll taken in the 1970s showed this to be so. He was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri on November 4, 1916. His middle-America roots are likely a key to his ability to connect well with the American people. He moved with his family to Houston at age 10. He showed an interest in journalism from a young age, as he edited his school paper while in high school.
For college, he chose the University of Texas-Austin, and worked on the Daily Texan newspaper. However, he did not graduate. Cronkite started several reporting jobs for newspapers, covering both general news and sports. Because of this, he dropped out in his junior year, which was in 1935. He went on to dabble in broadcasting some. He went into radio for WKY in Oklahoma City and became the sports announcer at KCMO-AM in Kansas City. By 1937, he joined United Press in Kansas City. This led him to become a noted World War II reporter. Cronkite covered numerous battles in Europe and North Africa.
This led to the new world of television. After the war, noted CBS Newsman Edward R. Murrow encouraged Cronkite to join CBS in its new television department, and he accepted. Murrow had tried to encourage him to CBS during the war, but those earlier attempts failed. Cronkite started at CBS affiliate WTOP in Washington.
The term "anchor" as it applies to newsmen is often thought to have gotten its start in 1952, and refers to Cronkite's work in the Republican and Democratic conventions that year. This was the first time a major political convention was shown on television.
He first became the anchorman for the CBS Evening News on April 16, 1962, when Douglas Edwards stepped away. This role cemented his position as the leading face of television journalism in his time, and made him an American icon. In September 1963, the program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes, and became America's first half-hour nightly news program. He would go on to be the anchor in some major life-changing events, from being the first to report the breaking news of President John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963 to the Apollo 11 mission to the moon to coverage of the war in Vietnam. He would end each broadcast with his trademark phrase, "...And that's the way it is", followed by the day's date. Another one of his famous lines came during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Now well-known protests were erupting outside of the convention hall, and colleague Dan Rather was beaten to the ground by security staff on camera. Upon seeing this, Cronkite said on camera, "I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan." Cronkite was also known for his editorial on the war in Vietnam. After Cronkite gave his opinion that the war could not be won, President Lyndon B. Johnson stated,"If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."
Cronkite retired from the program on March 6, 1981, and was replaced by CBS's face throughout the rest of the 20th Century and the early years of the 21st, Dan Rather. Cronkite would go on to live another 28 years, in which he still stayed active with voice-overs for various programs and attractions, appearances and interviews. His name was also put on the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
As one who has a strong interest in journalism, I myself will miss his incredible talent for broadcasting and for connecting with the American people. We have lost another broadcasting news pioneer.
Walter Cronkite passed on Friday evening at his home in New York City. He succumbed in battling a long illness, believed to be cerebral vascular disease. After 92 years in life, and a long colorful career, he reached the sunset of his days on Earth.
Cronkite was well known as "the most trusted man in America", especially after a poll taken in the 1970s showed this to be so. He was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri on November 4, 1916. His middle-America roots are likely a key to his ability to connect well with the American people. He moved with his family to Houston at age 10. He showed an interest in journalism from a young age, as he edited his school paper while in high school.
For college, he chose the University of Texas-Austin, and worked on the Daily Texan newspaper. However, he did not graduate. Cronkite started several reporting jobs for newspapers, covering both general news and sports. Because of this, he dropped out in his junior year, which was in 1935. He went on to dabble in broadcasting some. He went into radio for WKY in Oklahoma City and became the sports announcer at KCMO-AM in Kansas City. By 1937, he joined United Press in Kansas City. This led him to become a noted World War II reporter. Cronkite covered numerous battles in Europe and North Africa.
This led to the new world of television. After the war, noted CBS Newsman Edward R. Murrow encouraged Cronkite to join CBS in its new television department, and he accepted. Murrow had tried to encourage him to CBS during the war, but those earlier attempts failed. Cronkite started at CBS affiliate WTOP in Washington.
The term "anchor" as it applies to newsmen is often thought to have gotten its start in 1952, and refers to Cronkite's work in the Republican and Democratic conventions that year. This was the first time a major political convention was shown on television.
He first became the anchorman for the CBS Evening News on April 16, 1962, when Douglas Edwards stepped away. This role cemented his position as the leading face of television journalism in his time, and made him an American icon. In September 1963, the program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes, and became America's first half-hour nightly news program. He would go on to be the anchor in some major life-changing events, from being the first to report the breaking news of President John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963 to the Apollo 11 mission to the moon to coverage of the war in Vietnam. He would end each broadcast with his trademark phrase, "...And that's the way it is", followed by the day's date. Another one of his famous lines came during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Now well-known protests were erupting outside of the convention hall, and colleague Dan Rather was beaten to the ground by security staff on camera. Upon seeing this, Cronkite said on camera, "I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan." Cronkite was also known for his editorial on the war in Vietnam. After Cronkite gave his opinion that the war could not be won, President Lyndon B. Johnson stated,"If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."
Cronkite retired from the program on March 6, 1981, and was replaced by CBS's face throughout the rest of the 20th Century and the early years of the 21st, Dan Rather. Cronkite would go on to live another 28 years, in which he still stayed active with voice-overs for various programs and attractions, appearances and interviews. His name was also put on the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
As one who has a strong interest in journalism, I myself will miss his incredible talent for broadcasting and for connecting with the American people. We have lost another broadcasting news pioneer.
