That’s The Way It Is

July 20, 2009 Posted by Roger Overton

Since Walter Cronkite’s passing last Friday, many have remembered the critical moments in U.S. history which he reported on- such as the Apollo 11 landing and the assassination of JFK. He became known as the most trusted man in America due to his (mostly) impartial reporting- giving people the facts and letting them decided for themselves what to think of them. They turned to him for the news. They looked to him to know and understand what was going on in the world.

I believe Walter Cronkite’s death marks an important transition point in how news is transmitted and consumed. He became the first anchor of a nightly half-hour news program in 1963, becoming not just the anchor, but also the managing editor. What became broadcast news was his decision and so he became an important gate keeper of information. Certainly people could turn the channel or pick up a newspaper, but his straightforward reporting and integrity earned him the trust he accumulated over time.

Perhaps Edward Murrow began the trend with his weekly new program, See it Now, but many credit Cronkite with creating, by example, the role of the news anchor as a trusted source of information. In his line have been Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw. Today we see Brian Williams and Katie Couric filling the role, but it seems clear that something has changed.

We may look to folks like Williams and Couric for information, but not in the same way the nation turned to Walter Cronkite. The change is technological at its core, but sociological in substance. Today we have become the gatekeepers of the news we receive.

We no longer wait to hear the news on an evening program, we read about it on Twitter, RSS feeds and news aggregator sites (such as Huffington Post and Drudge). We rarely look to reporters as trusted authorities, we find the source of the information we’re after. This is partly motivated by mistrust for authorities, but mostly fueled by the ability to find only the news we want to hear, determine when we want to hear it and decide from where we want to hear it.

So there’s a way in which today’s generation is filling Walter Cronkite’s shoes. Not by donning a suit and appearing on television, but by becoming gatekeepers. We report the news we see through Twitter and blogs, and we consume the news we want through these new avenues of technology. Cronkite should be remembered well for showing us how to be a gatekeeper with objectivity and integrity. Though authority has shifted from select anchormen to the general public, much can be learned from the ethic to which he aspired. Where we go from here will be determined not just by technology, but also how we decide to use it. For better or for worse, that’s the way it is.

Category Posted in Culture, Roger's Posts