Walter Cronkite –Trusted!
At the death of Walter Cronkite it was widely reported that when he was broadcasting the news he was “the most trusted man in America”. He was trusted and deserved the accolade. He told the news straight without political bias. His reporting focused on the news story without interjecting supposition and conjecture. We watched and did not even think that he was doing anything but giving us the story of the day “the way it was”.
I met and spent an hour or two with Walter at the NY Boat Show many years ago. I was walking the aisles of the show with Gary Jobson when we bumped into Walter. Walter and Gary knew each other and I was introduced. Walter was interested in looking for a life raft for his new sailboat.. I suggested a prominent safety equipment manufacturer I knew that had a booth at the show and took him over to meet them.
Our time together was spent talking about sailing and his new boat. Spending that time with Cronkite was interesting in that there was no pretension in the conversation. He knew that he was with a couple of guys that really knew about sailing.( especially Gary) and was interested in what we had to say
I found out a little bit of what made a good newsman that day. In a very casual manner he led the conversation to gain our opinions on a number of issues with his new boat. I could see that he was very knowledgeable but remained totally open to our comments on safety equipment for the boat. Walter was a good guy to hang out with as well as a great newsman. That time spent with Walter confirmed for me why, in the opinion of America, he was The Trusted source of news. He earned that trust from America, day after day in all those years of broadcasting.
It was comforting that we had a source of news that we could trust for honesty, clarity and devoid of hidden personal bias. Who is broadcasting today that we can look to as a source of news reporting with those qualities? If there is such a source, my TV must not get that channel.
The news anchors broadcasting today are without real credibility in every instance that I think about. They not only fall short of Cronkite but David Brinkley, Edward R.Murrow and Eric Sevareid are names that spring to mind as intellectual, trusted newsmen of a different era with no prominent equals currently on the air.
Trust is a part of our life that seems to have become a scarce item. Can our political leaders be trusted? I haven’t felt a sense of trust for any politicians in 20 years. Banks, financial institutions and many major businesses have fallen into the untrustworthy category.
I had teachers that were stern and unyielding but they could be trusted for their determination to cram facts into my brain. I don’t see many Miss Montgomery’s or Mr. Cylinders on today’s educational scene. I think they would not be acceptable in today’s politically correct, everyone needs to succeed, environment. I don’t have the same trust in the administration of our educational system that once was a very stable part of American. With Miss Montgomery, my 8th grade English teacher,if you didn’t do the work you failed. You could however trust that by the end of the year she would push, threaten, cajole and haul even the least gifted student to a capability of moving to the next level. You had trouble loving her, but you could trust Miss Montgomery.
I don’t know what happened to the likes of Miss Montgomery,. Dwight Eisenhower and Walter Cronkite in our lifetime but I miss them and the trust we had in leaders ,institutions and friends that made life’s path a much easier one to travel.
When I think about trust I realize that much of the success and joy of my life had an element of trust involved. There were people whom I trusted at the heart of every important success. A handshake deal was as good as a 50 page contract with some of the folks I dealt with years ago. I’m not sure I could do that today. Trust seems to be only a little understood memory in our society.
If the memory of Walter Cronkite can stimulate an interest in the importance of trustworthy reporting in even a few of the news people on TV tonight he will have left us with an important legacy. How about it Katie, Brian and the rest of the anchors? You could really be the place to start a News Reporting Trust Fund.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment