Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jul 2009
Source: Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, CN NK)
Copyright: 2009 Brunswick News Inc.
Contact: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/onsite.php?page=contact
Website: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2878
Author: Hassan Arif
Note: Hassan Arif is a graduate of UNB Law School and received his MA 
in Political Science at Carleton University. He resides in Fredericton.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Walter+Cronkite

A TRIBUTE TO WALTER CRONKITE

I have to admit, I do not have any personal memories of watching CBS 
News during Walter Cronkite's tenure as anchor, it was before my 
time. However, like many, I was struck by his death - he was a key 
figure in the early years of television news and played an important 
role in setting the standards for television journalism (even though 
many would argue that many contemporary journalists fall short of this bar).

As anchor, he commanded respect and authority as one of the primary 
sources of news in the United States, something which is not possible 
today where there is a plethora of media sources including the 
Internet and 24-hour news stations. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, 
he was frequently named in public opinion polls as "the most trusted 
man in America."

By contrast, a recent online poll by Time magazine, asking who was 
the most trusted person in news, found the answer not to be one of 
the three leading US network anchors, but rather a comedian, Jon Stewart.

Cronkite, through his newscasts, guided viewers through the 
tumultuous events of the 1960s and 1970s. This was a period that saw 
the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert 
F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. This 
period also saw the bloody quagmire in Vietnam, the emergence of a 
rebellious youth culture, and the establishment of new social movements.

Through all this, Cronkite was a familiar and trusted figure. He 
reported the facts and did not resort to the sensationalism that is 
too often seen today in American television news outlets.

Furthermore, Cronkite recognized the importance of objective 
journalism, but he also recognized that not all issues automatically 
had two sides (unlike many cable news outlets that reduce issues to a 
simplistic left-right, Democrat-Republican, Liberal-Conservative, 
framework where each side is considered to have equal validity). In 
particular, Cronkite recognized this reality in relation to the war in Vietnam.

Cronkite had not initially been an opponent of the Vietnam War. 
However, as the war dragged on and as opposition in the United States 
grew, he decided to go to Vietnam to assess the situation himself. 
What he saw there was a bloody and endless quagmire that was costing 
both American and Vietnamese lives.

In a CBS News broadcasts in 1968, Cronkite spoke truth to power when 
he gave his assessment of the Vietnam War, stating that it was an 
unwinnable war of attrition. Cronkite further stated that:

"We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of American 
leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in 
the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds"| To say that we 
are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the 
evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past."

Cronkite stated that military victory was not possible, that 
negotiation was the only means to end the conflict. It was an 
uncomfortable truth at the time, but Cronkite was not afraid to say it.

His commentary was a key element in turning public opinion against 
the war (in particular it spread opposition beyond youth and leftist 
elements of American society). It also likely prevented further 
escalation of the war and contributed to the ultimate winding down of 
the American presence in Vietnam.

This is in stark contrast to the run-up to the Iraq War in this 
decade where the American media, rather than acting as a check on 
power, were cheerleaders for the Bush administration's plans to 
invade that country. Even here in Canada, national television news 
broadcasts often lack critical examination of the war in Afghanistan 
where the lives of our soldiers and of the Afghan people are at risk, 
and where a path to victory is not discernable.

After his retirement in 1981, Walter Cronkite continued his 
commitment to peace and justice, no doubt informed by his experiences 
in Vietnam. He was a supporter of the World Federalist Association 
which was a proponent of limited World government on a federalist 
model. In this regard, Cronkite stated that:

"It seems to many of us that if we are to avoid the eventual 
catastrophic world conflict, we must strengthen the United Nations as 
a first step towards a world government patterned after our own 
government with a legislature, executive and judiciary, and police to 
enforce its international laws and keep the peace."

Cronkite was also an outspoken opponent of Bush's invasion of Iraq, 
stating that it was analogous to the quagmire in Vietnam. He also 
spoke out against the "War on Drugs" which he saw as a war without 
end that caused needless human suffering through draconian jail 
sentences that disproportionately targeted minorities, stating 
instead that alternative methods to combat drug addiction were needed.

Cronkite was truly a formative figure in the early days of television 
news whose commitment to reporting the facts and to social justice 
was admirable, making his position as the "most trusted man in 
America" one that was well deserved.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake