Cronkite remembered for reliability

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After Walter Cronkite, one of the most recognizable names in U.S. broadcast journalism, died Friday at the age of 92, MSU faculty and students agreed his work help set the standard for present-day journalists to follow.

Cronkite, who got his start in newspapers and rose to prominence for his coverage of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, had a significant, widespread impact on journalism in the United States, MSU journalism professor Steve Lacy said.

“He was a giant in journalism,” Lacy said. “He wanted journalism to be accurate, to be factual (and) to be believable by the people who consumed it.”

One of the most noteworthy aspects of Cronkite’s career was the trust placed in his reporting by the American public, Lacy said. This was further solidified by his belief his reporting came before his personality.

“His demeanor just oozed trust and when he said something, you believed it,” Lacy said. “It was not the personality that was important. … He came across as someone you could trust and get the facts right.”

Michael Stamm, an MSU assistant professor of history and journalism, said the public’s trust in Cronkite was significant because it occurred in the early days of television when Americans were both intrigued and wary of its capabilities.

“This was a person that on a day-to-day basis told you what’s important in the world,” he said.

Stamm referenced a quote by President Lyndon B. Johnson that Stamm said showed the significance of Cronkite’s reputation with the U.S. public: “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.”

“It’s really something that speaks a lot to Cronkite’s trustworthiness,” Stamm said. “He really helped define the concept of the TV anchorman,”

Deanne Austin, an MSU broadcast journalism senior, said Cronkite set the standard for modern-day broadcast journalism to follow.

“He had a lot of credibility (and) he also had good values (of) integrity and objectivity,” she said.

Staff writer Megan Hart contributed to this report.

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