Growing up in the 70s I have fond memories of Walter Cronkite. I remember hearing his voice fill our living room every evening. With his passing we also lose what greatness in journalism really was. In 15 minutes Cronkite could give you the news that was important to our nation. Could you imagine someone doing that today?
And how does the media remember Cronkite? They do it by giving us nonstop coverage of his life. Sure on the surface it seems fitting, but is it really? Are we honoring the man who could give us the news in 15 minutes by taking hours to talk about one story?
Perhaps a way to remember and honor Cronkite would be to actually report on the news. Just this month alone 52 coalition soldiers have died in Afghanistan, but they aren’t even worthy of a mention on the news crawl. If you only listened to the news you would quickly forget we are a nation at war. No one even wants to talk about it.
We are not honoring Cronkite this week, instead we are insulting the very profession he helped mold. I would love to see one network take the time to honor Cronkite by actually reporting the news.