His recent death marks the end of an era. He represented how things should be done and now a days that sadly has become a novelty rather then a standard. What is even more depressing is that Walter Cronkite’s death has given so-called news reporters the chance to pay homage to a man that they themselves are nothing like. Cronkite stood for dignity and dedication. He was not a newsman because he liked being in front of the camera. He reported the news because whether it was good or bad he knew that it was something we needed to know, not something we wanted to know. He firmly believed that a well-informed public was a strong public.


When I see these dickheads on fox news and cnn discussing the impact of his death on their own lives, it’s straight up laughable. The fact of the matter is that Cronkite's on-air progenies have not only a fraction of the talent that he did but possess almost none of his ethical backbone and commitment to journalistic excellence yet they are still more than happy to make a big show of genuflecting at his feet. It would be the understatement of the century to say these journalists are even in the same playing field as Cronkite because they are not even playing the same game. Their game involves ratings and profit and if they get the occasionally truth in well all the better.


That is why I think that it is important for Walter Cronkite’s death to be discussed in the grander scheme of things. His death represents the demise of the respectable news medium. In its ashes we now have fluff stories that keep you hypnotically glued to the TV. Never encouraging you to think critically about the story but instead opting to spin the story in any format that will sell. Sadly, while many newsman may think that they are following in his footsteps, they are really nothing more then puppets. Puppets that have tricked themselves into believing that if they sit in front of a camera reading from a teleprompter that they to are carrying out his legacy.


His legacy however is gone, leaving me both annoyed at status quo and looking for somebody to blame. While I would love to say that it is the reporters fault for not valuing the importance of objective news telling or the cooperate big wigs fault for deciding what to air, I would be wrong to blame these people. The truth of the matter is that its nobody's fault but our own, we as a whole allowed this to happen. If these media giants focus primarily on ratings to spawn their bullshit then it is our own fault for tuning into it. We inadvertently decided that instead of some boring old guy giving us ethical truthful news stories we prefer to have “in your face” flashy news stories with sexy anchormen. No longer valuing the actual truth of a story we instead prefer to be entertained. I would like to say that things will eventually get better, however I am doubtful. At least for the TV reform instead I am optimistic that the Internet will allow more and more people, who are willing to put in the effort, the means to tease out the bullshit themselves and find the actual story. I will mourn you Walter much more than any actor or musician that died this year because you were somebody worth mourning. I only hope that one-day future generations will not only embrace your ideology but demand it.

Submit Post