Walter Cronkite
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Walter Cronkite, the man who shaped much of what is the modern (MSM/Old) news media, has passed away. As COB6 notes, during WWII he went into operation Market Garden in a glider with the 101st. I salute that.
I cordially loathe what he did to the practice of journalism, particularly in television, as it enabled and encouraged advocacy journalism. It is worth noting that what he did to the military was repeated with space, though many in the space community still don't or refuse to recognize the fact. While it may be petty of me, I always loved the send-up of "Uncle Walter" in L. Neil Smith's book The Venus Belt.
As with all who pass, I ask that the light shine down on him and those he leaves behind.
If you loved the recent haigiography and non-stop coverage in the so-called news media, you may well want to leave your television set off or set to the travel channel or such for the next few days. You can forget coverage of real news for yet a while longer...
LW