I see a lot of comments from people about the good ol’ days of news and, more times than not, they reference Walter Cronkite when they say it.
“News nowadays ain’t like it used to be when Uncle Walter did it.” Or, “these reporters are nothing like Cronkite. That was trustworthy news.”
To take a word from baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, you’re "misremembering" history.
Don’t get me wrong. Although he was essentially before my time, Cronkite is and was an absolute pro and legend. Watching old clips of him, I can see how he was able to calm a generation with his demeanour and memorable tone.
But he didn’t do anything that newscasters aren’t doing now. Read the news given to him.
While he was also a great reporter, there were many who felt he leaned too left and called him out for it.
But maybe there didn’t seem to be as many because Twitter and Facebook hadn’t been invented, so the number of Cronkite detractors appeared very small.
All In The Family fans will recall that the ground-breaking TV show took the narrative of the people and used it to poke fun of Ol’ Walter by having Archie Bunker refer to him as “Pinko Cronkite.”
It's funny that Cronkite was wrong every time he reported something the pro-war or pro-segregation crowd disapproved of.
Odd.
No, the news of days gone by is romanticized because of the truth it didn't tell.
When I was growing up, I didn’t hear a thing about residential schools and now that's a dominate story. I guess that was previously missed by the folks behind the desk and pen.
In my younger days, sending food to Africa was the thing to do. Commercials were run constantly, and rock stars held massive concerts where proceeds went to support Africa and the battle against hunger.
I remember “learning” that because of the rugged and hot environment, it was difficult to grow food, so getting supplies over there was imperative.
How come the great newscasters of the day didn’t tell me the hardships in Africa were because they still hadn’t recovered from the slave trade that took generations of healthy men and women who weren’t able to cultivate the culture and land?
Is today’s news more divisive, like many online commenters say, or does it shake up the world you were never informed about and where you just felt comfortable living in?
Responses like “this writer is a lefty!” That comment always makes those who know me laugh.
Wait a couple days and the left will call me a right-winger when I do a story about something positive the Conservative party is doing.
All the respect in the world to the legacy of giants like Walter Cronkite for calming a generation through tumultuous times, but he did nothing different than what many in this craft are doing now.
Hearken back to the good ol’ days? No, the news hasn’t changed.
The comment sections got bigger with people who prefer self research without, you know, the research.
Shawn Gibson is a staff reporter at BarrieToday.
