I think part of my reminiscing this week about the summer of 1969 has been prompted by the death of Walter Cronkite last 
weekend. Surely there was no stronger figure in our lives in those years that the person who brought every important bit of news into our homes every night. He was the one who talked us through the Kennedy assassination and funeral, the lunar landing, the Kent State shooting, and every other big news story of the day. He was part of my childhood and seemed to stand for integrity in the media in a way that has pretty much disappeared in the past twenty years.
How interesting was it to grow up in an era where the news came into our homes only twice a day - at 7 and 11pm. With it we heard body counts from Viet Nam and saw footage of the war, as well as bits about what other important things were happening in the world. There was no time for silly fluff pieces about celebrities and silly people doing ridiculous things like we see now. With 24/7 coverage the news channels are grabbing the most inane items and presenting them as something we should know about. Most of it I could surely live without.
Much of my world view was shaped by what I saw on the television - mine was the original TV generation. And Walter Cronkite was very much part of how those of us in our 50s and 60s will forever look at life. I'm glad he lived a long and happy life with his wife of over 60 years. He deserved that.
weekend. Surely there was no stronger figure in our lives in those years that the person who brought every important bit of news into our homes every night. He was the one who talked us through the Kennedy assassination and funeral, the lunar landing, the Kent State shooting, and every other big news story of the day. He was part of my childhood and seemed to stand for integrity in the media in a way that has pretty much disappeared in the past twenty years.How interesting was it to grow up in an era where the news came into our homes only twice a day - at 7 and 11pm. With it we heard body counts from Viet Nam and saw footage of the war, as well as bits about what other important things were happening in the world. There was no time for silly fluff pieces about celebrities and silly people doing ridiculous things like we see now. With 24/7 coverage the news channels are grabbing the most inane items and presenting them as something we should know about. Most of it I could surely live without.
Much of my world view was shaped by what I saw on the television - mine was the original TV generation. And Walter Cronkite was very much part of how those of us in our 50s and 60s will forever look at life. I'm glad he lived a long and happy life with his wife of over 60 years. He deserved that.
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