Wikinews:Story Preparation/Broadcasting icon Walter Cronkite talks to Wikinews, on modern media
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Image: NARA - US Department of Defense.
Born in 1916, broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite is an icon in the American public consciousness and a journalist who is known and respected around the world. Despite being in his nineties he agreed to answer a selection of questions from the Wikinews community. The focus of the interview was on how media has progressed and while some commercial groups have a near stranglehold on broadcast journalism, the Internet has entered the fray as the great leveller.
Walter Cronkite began pursuing journalism in 1935, going on to cover World War II and later the Vietnam conflicts. He put his life on the line getting dropped into the Netherlands in a glider during the Allied invasion of Europe and covering the Battle of the Bulge, then post-war the Nuremberg Trials.
He is perhaps best known within the United States for his coverage of the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. He reported on the event live before Kennedy's death was confirmed and later covering the entire ensuing drama. In some respects his coverage of the death and funeral set the standard for future television reporting.
Wikinews set out to pose a few questions to Mr Cronkite. At his age, some frailties are to be expected and poor hearing made a telephone interview out of the question. Instead questions were posed through a contact at CBS using e-mail. Below is the transcript exploring how much things have changed in the near-century since Walter Cronkite was born.
[edit] Interview
WN
You started in 1935, what do you consider the most influential change you've seen since then?
- Walter Cronkite:
WN What one news event did you not cover that you wish you had?
- W.C.:
WN As our introduction states, you dropped into occupied Europe in a glider; was that one of the more scary moments of your career or is there any other incident that you found really intimidating?
- W.C.: [Ed. Note: This is where mention of W.C.'s book can come in]
WN How did you finally decide that your editorial aside during the Tet offensive was something that needed to be said?
- W.C.:
WN During the 1970's or "Network" era was there any explicit acrimony between you and your competing anchors on NBC Nightly News? (John Chancellor & David Brinkley) Was there an implicit competition for viewers?
- W.C.:
WN In a retrospective interview on the JFK assassination, you remarked that "a journalist shouldn't cry." When do you think it is acceptable for a good journalist to marry emotion with his or her reporting - if at all?
- W.C.:
WN With modern cable television, news is instantly available. Has this in any way devalued it?
- W.C.:
WN Do you believe modern news coverage is more "style over substance"?
- W.C.:
WN In the 1976 film Network sensationalism and Yellow journalism were portrayed as being sure-fire ratings winners. Do you think that foreshadowed the television journalism we have now?
- W.C.:
WN Which do you believe is more credible as a source - publicly funded broadcasters or their commercial counterparts?
- W.C.:
WN With the vast range of news channels and websites available it is possible for people to only get news matching their own beliefs. Do you feel this is a bad thing?
- W.C.:
WN Should educators take an active role in teaching students to be critical of slickly presented news coverage?
- W.C.:
WN When did you first see computers used in news reporting?
- W.C.:
WN We want to talk about how the Internet has changed reporting. A bombing in Baghdad is on the front page of the BBC website 20 minutes later, do you think this is a positive development?
- W.C.:
WN Do you make regular use of the Internet for news coverage or do you still rely on newswires/print?
- W.C.:
WN What is your opinion of citizen journalism? Do you believe citizen journalists can report as truthfully - or more - than the mainstream media?
- W.C.:
WN Do you think citizen journalism plays a significant role in news reporting and will it succeed?
- W.C.:
WN What do you think about "Memogate" where CBS ran with documents of questionable authenticity and the relatively conclusive discrediting of these by the Internet community?
- W.C.:
WN You blogged briefly for the Huffington Post, how was that experience for you and what is your opinion of the phenomenon which is blogging?
- W.C.:
WN We've talked about the Internet and blogs, with journalism do you think this has actually tipped the balance back in favour of the people as opposed to monied interests?
- W.C.:
WN What do you think the news should be, who currently gets it right?
- W.C.:
