Walter Cronkite's influence on Generation X

July 20, 1:00 PMLiberal ExaminerRaymond Gellner

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    Walter Cronkite on the day of his last newscast in 1981  (AP Photo)

The sad news of the death of former correspondent and newscaster Walter Cronkite gripped the entire nation last week and continues to do so. Many generations are grieving for the man who brought the truth of living history into our homes and into our lives. Each generation has its own vision of the man who became affectionately known as “Uncle” Walter.

To the older generations, born during the Great Depression and prior, he first gained national attention by reporting firsthand on the struggle of World War II. His coverage of the war included North Africa and Europe, where he participated in a combat bombing mission over Germany, and continued all of the way through the Nuremburg trials.

To the next generation, the baby boomers, he brought tragedy and triumph right into their homes in a way never before captured. Kennedy, Vietnam and the lunar landing of Apollo 11 were the great events for this wave of Americans. For the first time, Americans had nightly access to a war via the television. Everyone in the country acknowledged the truth and merit of Walter Cronkite’s observations. Even President Lyndon B. Johnson, upon hearing Cronkite add rare commentary to a report on Vietnam in which he stated that it was a war we could not possibly win, exclaimed, "If I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

However, the last generation to know him as a newsman on CBS every night, Generation X, had him for only a few years, but even so, he made a lasting impression on many if not all of us. We were young, very young and only starting to become fully engaged with the events of the world around us when he was forced into retirement by CBS. Events like Watergate and his role in helping the Washington Post’s investigative reporting receive the full attention it deserved may or may not be remembered by those within our generation. Nevertheless Walter Cronkite’s unceasing duty to the truth let all know that there is a proverbial candle in the dark despite the attempts that are made so often to extinguish it.

Despite my youth at the time, I can remember that no matter the belief or politics of the older generations around me, they all looked up to Cronkite’s fierce commitment to informed and factual reporting. His legacy was one of educating and enlightening rather than manipulating and entertaining his audience. As I grew older and started to actually watch the news, Cronkite truly became an uncle to me as he had done for those before me. As the corporate media was growing around all of the news outlets, he appeared unflappable against the change.

It was ironic that for a man who spent his life reporting the news without making himself the news his own retirement would become the news. Mandatory retirement at age 65 was a standard practice at the time with most corporations, and even Cronkite was no exception. Even so, the uproar that this caused CBS created the change in forced retirement policies nationwide.

We of Generation X are now preparing to take our positions as leaders in the world. The sitting President of the United States is a late baby boomer, although some consider him a Gen Xer. If he is not, the next president may very well be one. In taking this charge, I hope those of my generation will carry a duty of the truth which Cronkite taught us. Though we did not have his tutelage for long, the lessons learned carry a weight far beyond their measure of time. 
 

Copyright © 2009 by Raymond Gellner