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.