Walter Cronkite was a powerful figure in American media during the 1960's amd 1970's. Like all well-known people, he was loved by many people and disliked by many people. Now that he is dead, most of the obituaries will focus on the good things.
John Podhoretz at Commentary Magazine has an analysis of the inpact Walter Cronkite had on the Viet Nam war. Walter Cronkite essentially caused us to lose the war (by turning American public opinion against our troops and the war) after we had achieved a major victory. To understand how this happened, we need to remember the impact of the three major network newscasts before the age of cable and internet.
According to the article:
"Cronkite was a key figure in many ways, but foremost among them, perhaps, was the fact that he cleared the way for the mainstream media and the Establishment to join what Lionel Trilling called "the adversary culture." Cronkite, the gravelly voice of accepted American wisdom, whose comportment suggested he kept his money in bonds and would never even have considered exceeding the speed limit, devastated President Lyndon Johnson in the wake of the 1968 Tet Offensive by declaring that the United States "was mired in stalemate" in Vietnam--when Johnson knew that Tet had been a military triumph."
Walter Cronkite was the forerunner of the elite media we have today--he was not objective and does not serve the country well. Because of the foundation he laid in the 'mainstream media', an alternative media has grown up in the form of talk radio, cable television, and the internet. Regardless of how you feel about talk radio, they only way to get a balanced newscast is to listen to both the network news and talk radio.
In reading some of the blogs and comments from other blog readers, I was surprised at how intense the reaction to Walter Cronkite's death was. As a member of the generation that fought in Viet Nam and the wife of a Viet Nam era veteran, I can understand the intensity, I was just surprised that it was still there. Unfortunately the template he put in place for network news lives on, but at least today we have an antidote. It's time to forgive and move on.
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