Cronkite speaks out against Bush and about media

[Faygo Kid]

An excerpt from an interview very much worth reading with Walter Cronkite at commondreams.org. His observations are on target across the board: "Not since the Civil War has the state of our democracy been so doubtful."

"Preventive war is a theory, a policy, that was put forth by the president in his policy address," Cronkite observed. "It upsets all of our previous concepts about the use of power. It is particularly worrying when our power is almost unchallenged around the world. It seems to me that this preventive action is a terrible policy to put forth to other nations. If we are viewed as a pacesetter by other nations, this is a policy that could lead to eternal war around the world. If every small nation with a border dispute believes they can go ahead and launch a pre-emptive war and that it will be approved by the greatest power, that is a very dangerous thing."

To Cronkite's view, Bush is a distinctly aggressive president. "I actually knew Herbert Hoover, believe it or not. And my time as a journalist goes back to Franklin Roosevelt. In my time, I don't think we have had any president as aggressive, except possibly Roosevelt. With Roosevelt, there was in his time a call for leadership, which he gave us. With this White House, they are aggressive on all fronts, whether there is a call for leadership or not."

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1108-01.htm

[spooky3]

1. I wish he would speak out even more. Thanks!

[livinontheedge]

2. Who is Cronkite?

Never heard of him.

[Cat Atomic]

3. You've never heard of Walter Cronkite?

http://www.grandtimes.com/cronkite.html

I'm assuming sarcasm- but I have this disorder that makes it impossible for me to detect sarcasm through type. :P

[Toucano]

5. Stunning, ain't it?

But not so unreasonable, I guess. He doesn't come up all that much anymore.

[kalian]

17. Must be a different generation....

or it could be implied sarcasm... :shrug:

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Only the most trusted man in America!

He was CBS News anchor for 20 some-odd years, retiring in 1981. He's definitely on our side!

[livinontheedge]

8. A little before my time.

[Minstrel Boy]

15. Cronkite retired in 1981,

so I don't think your question is at all unreasonable. It just makes us who remember him feel ancient.

Twenty years ago, how many young people knew the names Walter Winchell or Edward R Murrow?

[Cooley Hurd]

19. Winchell was a shill for Joe McCarthy...

Winchell was scum, akin to Matt Drudge. Murrow, on the other hand, took his position as the preeminent national journalist seriously. Murrow is one of my heroes...

[Cooley Hurd]

16. Understandable...

Don't feel taken to task about not knowing who Uncle Walter is. But he is a man whose word still carries a great deal of weight with the American people, and because of that, his relevancy cannot be disputed...

[CityZen-X]

13. Can We Clone Walter?

Walter Cronkite exemplifies the meaning of journalist. A class act with credibility.
He has no peers in this odious shamefull so called media.

[Catshrink]

21. "Uncle Walter" to an entire generation -- or two.

[Faygo Kid]

6. Is this for real, or a joke?

Not sure what your point is, if you're kidding; can't believe your inquiry otherwise. Don't mean this as an insult, I really just can't believe it. Did you like what he said?

[flamingyouth]

7. Geez that makes me feel old!

There's no one like him on network news now, that's for sure.

[Scott Lee]

9. I did NOT just see this post

n/t

[Badger1]

10. Cronkite

Those who know their history will recall that when LBJ withdrew from the race he said that when you loose Cronkite you have lost the country. Could this still be true today? Wishful thinking.........

[Faygo Kid]

11. OK, back to the substance - comments on what Cronkite said?

Easy to get off track when we find someone at DU who doesn't know who Walter Cronkite is, but as he would say, "And that's the way it is." I thought he was just great here. Comments on substance?

[Cooley Hurd]

18. Walter served under such great journalists like Murrow...

...who took on Joe McCarthy despite the obvious risks. CBS News in the 50's, 60's and 70's was as objective as any national news organization should be.

When Walter Cronkite speaks, I listen - as do millions of Americans.

[MessiahRp]

12. Another column on it...

This one from John Nichols in the CapTimes...

http://www.madison.com/captimes/opinion/column/nichols/60744.php

John Nichols: Cronkite fears media mergers threaten democracy
By John Nichols
November 8, 2003

The most trusted name in news is worried about what is happening to the news media in America.

"I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that," said Walter Cronkite, the former CBS News anchorman, whose name remains synonymous with American journalism.

"The way that works is to have multiple owners, with the hope that the owners will have different viewpoints, and with the hope that the debate will help to air all sides, or at least most sides of the issues. But right now I think we're moving away from that approach."

Speaking to The Capital Times before this weekend's National Conference on Media Reform, Cronkite said he is particularly concerned by the decision of the Federal Communications Commission to relax media ownership rules. By a 3-2 vote in June, the commission approved proposals that would permit a single media company to own television stations that reach up to 45 percent of American households, and that would permit a single media company to own the daily newspaper, several television stations and up to eight radio stations in the same community.

-snip-

EDITED BY ADMIN FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS

[Armstead]

14. Good for Walter

He pinpoints the problem exactly. IN addition to the war, he goes after the modern media monopolies.

<snip>

The most trusted name in news is worried about what is happening to the news media in America. "I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that," said Walter Cronkite, the former CBS News anchorman, whose name remains synonymous with American journalism.

"The way that works is to have multiple owners, with the hope that the owners will have different viewpoints, and with the hope that the debate will help to air all sides, or at least most sides of the issues. But right now I think we're moving away from that approach."

<snip>

[kath]

20. Unfortunately, a while back Cronkite said that the media was liberal

and of course, the right just jumped all over this. (Google Cronkite media liberal to see what I'm talking about.) Uh, Uncle Walter, HELLOOOO?! Where've you been that you think the media is liberal??

Apparently he said it in August on Larry King, but I know he must have said it at least once prior to that. I was out of the country in August, and I remember being upset about it prior to that.

[rasputin1952]

22. I grew up with Walter, just as millions of others did...

Cronkite came into his own reporting the death of JFK. CBS coudn't find the regular anchor, and Walter took to the camera and the mike.When he reported the death of JFK, you could almost feel a collective gasp across the nation.

Edward R Murrow was in a class by himself in the generation before mine. I can listen to that recording of, "London is burning", a thousand times and still be stirred. Here is Murrow, during the most intensive part of the 'blitz' in London, standing on a rooftop describing in deatail what is happening while bombs are dropping around him. At that point in history, it seemed like the two people who were absolutely fearless, were Murrow and Churchill. Of course there were thousands of other fearless people in London at the time, but leadership was necessary, and Murrow ensured that London, with Churchill walking among the ruins, was seen as one of the last bastions of democracy in Europe.

Cronkite is probably the most trusted man in journalism, at any time in our history. He made it a point to go to 'Nam and get first hand reports of the fighting there. Until that point, he, like everyone else, got their nes of the war from the Pentagon. Once he went and saw the carnage, he changed his mind on the war, and began to bring out information that was previously hidden and unknown. This was instrumental in the war's end.

Cronkite is a national treasure, and he will be sorely missed.

O8)