 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 ] Next Last |
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (born November 4, 1916) is an American journalist, best known for his work as a television news anchorman. During his tenure at CBS Evening News he was often called "the most trusted man in America."
Indeed, his current biography at King Features Syndicate, for whom he writes a weekly column called "And That's The Way I See It" notes that "In a nationwide viewer opinion poll as recently as 1995, more than a decade after leaving the CBS anchor desk, he again was voted 'Most Trusted Man in Television News.'"
Cronkite was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, and grew up in Houston, Texas. He attended middle school at Lanier Middle School. Thereafter he attended the University of Texas at Austin. After various newspaper reporter jobs covering news and sports, he entered broadcasting as a radioFor other uses see: radio (disambiguation Radio is a technology that allows the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light. Radio waves Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, and are announcer for a station in Oklahoma CityOklahoma City (sometimes abbreviated as OKC is the capital and principal city of the state of Oklahoma in the United States of America. It is the county seat of Oklahoma County, but portions of Oklahoma City is located in Cleveland, Canadian, McClain, and, OklahomaOklahoma ( In Detail) (Full size) State nickname: Sooner State Other U. States Capital Oklahoma City Largest City Oklahoma City Governor Brad Henry Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 20th 181,196 kmē 178,023 kmē 3,173 kmē 1. 8% Population Total ( 2000). He joined the United Press in 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours,, and became one of the top American reporters in World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough, covering battles in North AfricaNorth Africa is the region of the continent of Africa north of the Sahara desert, comprising the Maghreb, including Libya and Egypt, and also by some definitions the Sudan. North Africa is vastly more uniform ethnically than anywhere in Africa south of th and EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se. After the war, he covered the Nuremburg trials, and served as the United Press main reporter in Moscow for two years.
In 1950, he joined CBS News, in their growing young television division. He anchored the network's coverage of the 1952 presidential election, as he would continue to do with American elections until his retirement.
Cronkite served as anchorman of the CBS Evening News from April 16, 1962 until March 6, 1981, a job in which he became an American icon.
During the early part of his time anchoring the CBS Evening News, Cronkite competed against NBC's anchor team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, who anchored the Huntley-Brinkley Report. During the greater part of the 1960s, the Huntley-Brinkley Report had more viewers than Cronkite's broadcast. This began to change in the late 1960s, as RCA made a corporate decision not to fund NBC News at the levels CBS funded CBS News. Consequently, CBS News acquired a reputation for accuracy and depth in broadcast journalism. This reputation meshed nicely with Cronkite's wire service experience, and in 1968, the CBS Evening News began to surpass the Huntley-Brinkley Report in viewership during the summer months. The CBS Evening News achieved total dominance of the American news viewing audience in 1970, when Huntley retired and corporate dithering on RCA's part crippled the selection of a successor anchor, and successive format. During this time, Cronkite's broadcast achieved a dominance it would not lose while he was at the anchor desk. Although NBC ended up picking a well-respected and popular telejournalist in John Chancellor, Cronkite proved to be much more popular.
For many years, Cronkite was considered one of the most trusted figures in the United States. Affectionately known as "Uncle Walter," he covered many of the important news events of the era so effectively that his image and voice are closely associated with the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the Watergate scandal. He is remembered by many as finishing the CBS Evening News with the phrase, "…and that's the way it is." (Cronkite's succesor, Dan Rather, echoed the phrase by ending his own broadcasts with "…and that's part of our world tonight.")
The announcement of his retirement plans February 14, 1980 became a national event. Dan Rather succeeded him as anchor of the CBS Evening News.
Cronkite currently writes a syndicated opinion column for King Features Syndicate. He has continued to broadcast occasionally as a special correspondent for CBS, CNN, and NPR into the 21st century; one such occasion was Cronkite anchoring the second space flight by John Glenn in 1998 as he had Glenn's first in 1962.
His other projects since his retirement have included voicing a character based on Benjamin Franklin in the educational television cartoon Liberty's Kids and, as Amateur Radio operator KB2GSD, narrating a documentary about Amateur Radio in the public service for the American Radio Relay League. Cronkite also appeared in a 2004 MTV special report on the American presidential election.
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication is part of Arizona State University.
Since retiring, Cronkite has become outspoken as a voice for liberal causes. In his column, he has repeatedly condemned President George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 1998, he befriended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|