Having managed to avoid broadcst news for decades, I'm no expert, but I doubt Walter's to blame for the current state of affairs in the genre.

We knew he was getting up there in age, but just like any icon, it is a sad loss when they die. Walter paved the way to what journalism is today. His voice will never be forgotten.

He was a liar who staged his broadcasts from Vietnam. I remember his request to a Marine artillery unit to fire on the hill that would appear behind him in his TV broadcast. The Marines reluctantly agreed. That was to make it look as if he were in the thick of it even though he was reporting from a secure rear area. He also dubbed combat sound effects into his broadcasts from Nam to achieve the same results. What a sham! He was an advocate and not a journalist, and he is the root cause of today's cynicism about and mistrust of the media. His snatching defeat from the jaws of victory after the 1968 Tet Offensive (an overwhelming defeat for North Vietnam) not only demoralized his own countrymen serving in uniform, but practically handed South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to the communists on a silver platter. Not even genocide in Cambodia could spark an apology from him. The "most trusted man in America" should have been awarded a Soviet hero's medal. With great power comes great responsibility, and Uncle Walter was as irresponsible as they come. After this most trusted man lectured his TV audience that the war was unwinnable, LBJ reportedly said that if he lost Walter, he had lost the war. That Mr. Cronkite is considered the gold standard for objectivity and honesty for the news business, tells you all you need to know about the standards of the news business today. Cronkite's lie energized the communists, lost the war in Vietnam and wasted the lives of so many Americans, Vietnamese and Cambodians. To those of us who know the truth about Tet '68 and the lie he propagated in the name of objective news reportage, he remains the most despicable man in America.

He's been an old, irrelevant man for a long time, but he did enjoy enormous respect and affection due to his telegenic demeanor and his on-camera persona which reverberated mature, objective, judgment in the beginning years of television news amidst an enormous time of social upheaval in America. He is certainly the man who lost the Vietnam War for America but was never called to account for it because his ideological comrades controlled information disemination after he retired.

Whether or not you believe the US "should" have conducted the Vietnam War, it was Cronkite who made it impossible to continue, for a democrat president. His declaration that it could not be won (which sounds very much like an opinion) was a devastating blow to a president whose ideology and tactics are remarkably similar to those of our current president, with just a touch more arrogance, but Cronkite enjoyed such personal respect and admiration, what he told them, America believed. Period. I can remember clearly, during arguments about Vietnam, at the time, people shrieking, "it's not winnable, Cronkite said so! " So, he spent a week in theater, shortly after the disastrous (for the North Vietnamese) Tet Offensive, and declared the conflict "unwinnable" based on his week there and the reading of numerous stories every night on the air.

After retirement, which offended him deeply, and his replacement by the young snot Dan Rather, for whom Cronkite had no respect, which turned out to be prescient, he settled into retirement sailing with his liberal buddies and making very occasional personal appearances and donating boatloads of money to crazy liberal organizations, confident his ideology woul continue to be kept secret by his comrades in the press.

He set what should have remained the standard for American newsmen and women where you check your ideology at the door when you arrive at work, which lasted less than a decade, being completely erased by his successor, while Cronkite lived out a long, proud retirement. RIP, Walter.

He was a pioneer of electronic journalism and the singular standing icon of the era when television surpassed print as the leading source of news for the masses of America. That era is gone and now so is he.

He carried himself like a public figure should and leaves with his reputation and dignity in tact, an act that is rare in the modern world.

Gripes from the fringes about his politics and personal beliefs will do nothing to sully his legacy.

Cronkite acted as an anchorman ought to act and was an American institution. The three channels were different in those days as they took their responsibilities seriously. Cronkite on CBS, Huntley and Brinkley on NBC, and a reasonably good cast on ABC set a standard of excellence that has not been met since.

All of the above were lefto mopes but tried in varying degrees not to show it. At least they thought they were reading the news in an impartial manner even though they weren't many times. I would not ordinarily let people off the hook for such stupidity or ignorance, but the country was different then. They weren't vicious as they are today.

I guess I am not devastated, but note the end of an era.

I think that Walter Cronkite used to do a good job on the news. He was for the most part reading it then as far as I know. He did not seem to be a bad person. I am mostly neutral on him.
I had a temp job at CBS a reception job. No one really went in there. Some people did use to talk about him with gossip that might be expected but was surprising. I have rather a sour taste in my mouth from working at CBS then with the office policies and favorites. It was not his fault though. I was working with the accountants upstairs and I really didn't see him. Some people would go around and peek in other offices. I did need a temp job then but I just would have gotten something else right then. I was told by someone else there temp that the girls were bored and left (and rude).
I hear later that his politics were something which isn't too surprising. Those were his own ideas I guess.

Cronkite in his later years really went off the wall on his politics

The generation gap brings it to four. . .

Cronkite reminds us the sham the present incarnation of the news is at present- with enough slop thrown at the wall that one or two things a day might be true.

Literate, measured, and a sense of judgment. . .He wasn't perfect- but he gave the news a collective consciousness.

Class in a business that today sorely lacks it. . .

Cronkite had a captive audience back then. Most Americans hung on his every word. Looking back I think he took advantage of his position to advance his world view, but he did it in a way (like many journalist do) to ensure that it was passed off as “news”, and by God, Americans consumed it as such.

Since his retirement, Cronkite decided to come out and uncover his Far Left Liberalism. He found out quickly that Liberalism was a hard sell, even to dumb Americans. He went on record with some pretty off the wall statements. He once charged that Karl Rove arranged for Osama Bin Laden to make a video tape just before the 04 election. He actually thought that this country could find some middle ground between capitalism and communism.

I agree with Vic, during Vietnam, I thought Cronkite and other liberals gave the enemy aid and some comfort, I don’t think he should ever be forgiven for that.

Bub bye.

There is no arguing the fact that Mr. Cronkite was "Americana" and will be missed by many people. The man lived the way he wanted to and was, to put it mildly, successful.
As we all know, things have changed. These days, there are people who basically believe whatever Rush Limbaugh tells them. Others follow in kind Keith Olberman, NPR, CNN, and so forth. Until I was about 15, Walter Cronkite had a virtual monopoly over this, as evidenced by LBJ's famous remark, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America".
I still say his special report on the Tet offensive was a great aid to our enemies in Vietnam- something that, personally, I will not forgive him for. I suppose however, that one could defend him by saying it wasn't his fault if people's opinions were so easily shaped by a news anchorman.

When I was growing up, Cronkite WAS the news, in a way that people of younger generations can only imagine. His influence was immense, but he seldom stepped out of the role of objective journalist and anchor, and his avuncular, intelligent style was both reassuring and interesting.

He hasn't been an anchor for over a quarter century, but to a large degree, he set the bar high for anchors to come, and few of them have been able to meet the challenge.

He had a full life, and mine will go on a while longer, but I will miss him.

"And that's the way it is."

RIP Walter.

Cronkite was before my time, but he was a legendary public figure who I was aware of despite never really having the opportunity to enjoy. He was an extremely well liked and respected individual, and he seemed to have lived a full life that was free of any public shame. The summer of celebrity deaths continue, but at least Cronkite was a man who was able to grow old, watch his family mature, and leave on what seems like positive terms.