RIP, Walter Cronkite

[pyat]

Walter Cronkite (who has just died, aged 92) and Charles Kuralt (who died in 1997) were the first television personalities I could name who weren't on Sesame Street or Star Trek. You don't seem to get news anchors like them anymore, at least not on U.S. news.

You get blustering demagogues like Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck, or empty suits with good hair who argue with newsroom staff about whether a 2nd plane just hit the World Trade Centre.

(No, I don't like Keith Olbermann, even if I usually agree with him.)

Comments

[relee.livejournal.com]

I saw an interesting documentary? on modern news anchors and weatherpeople/meteorologists. The news anchor has been gradually overshadowed by the growing prestige of the weather reporter. Instead of cute girls with smiling suns and cartoon clouds, you get a bold man or woman in a fine suit, whose job is less telling you about weather trends and more about what new weather disasters to watch out for, and how they are the fault of the viewers.

Really facinating.