My first impressions of the legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite were based loosely off of Will Ferrell's role of Ron Burgundy in the film "Anchorman". In the movie, Ferrell's character is somewhat of an idiot but I believe the way he is portrayed as a universally loved newscaster comes from the days of Cronkite. He signs off after each broadcast telling his city of San Diego to,"stay classy". Sign-offs like this are used by many news anchors including Cronkite who used the phrase, "and that's the way it is". Another homage to this found in cinema is in Jim Carrey's role as "Bruce Almighty". His character uses the sign-off, "and that's the way the cookie crumbles". These portrayals of newscasters are burned into my memory and as I said, they come directly from their real-life counterparts.
I took the time to watch a few news programs recently and I saw some interesting things. The first one I watched was Chris Matthews' "Hardball". Matthews is a democrat who seems to report in a fairly calm way. Being a democrat, he is extremely supportive of Obama and has been jokingly accused of being in love with him. He never yells and usually has guests that agree with him (Democrats) on the show but does invite the occasional GOP representative. When speaking with his guests he lets them express their opinions and rarely interrupts. It's important to note that I am a liberal democrat, so I may be a little less critical of Chris' broadcasts. Having said that, I think that Matthews has an effective and sincere delivery style. Though his views are very biased, he comes off as an intelligent man and approaches his show in a calm, collected, and professional manner. On the other end of the spectrum is Glenn Beck. Beck is, in my opinion, the polar opposite of Matthews in many ways. Their lone similarity seems to be their bias towards the opposing political party. Glenn, to me, comes off as a crazy dude. He is an obvious republican who is completely against Obama and never has democrats appear on his program. Not only does he yell and scream but I saw clips of him running around the set, and sometimes even crying. I don't think that this sort of emotional "reporting" has any place on an intelligent, respectable news channel. Beck had a caller that disagreed with him and instead of trying to maturely dispute their opinions in the way that Chris Matthews might do, he chose to scream loudly at them, "GET OFF MY PHONE!' He was even released from Fox News for his controversial ways.
The sarcasm in his voice at times was enough to make me want to reach through the television and slap him. Needless to say, I don't like his style but I do think that value can be found in it. The drama that he creates on the show sparks reaction. It is interesting to watch just because it's funny to see what kind of crazy things he will say or do next. I would be willing to bet that people who agree with Beck's views probably love his show.
Though both of these news anchors are popular with certain groups of people, neither of them is loved and respected in the way that Walter Cronkite was. I think the main reason for this is that when he reported, he left his own opinions out of it. You could always get the facts from Walter and he became a part of people's lives that was always there to tell you, "the way it is". We would all benefit from a throwback news program such as his with anchors who objectively explain the news. And even though I feel like this is needed, I don't necessarily think it would be successful. People like to watch news programs where the reporters share their views. They want to be agreed with, not opposed.
With all that being said, I think that though we might need it, we will never see another news anchor quite like Cronkite with his unique level of class and integrity that is sorely missed in today's television reporting.
References
-http://munews.missouri.edu/expert-comment/2009/0721-winfield-cronkite.php
-http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/32015109#32015109
-Hardball w/ Chris Matthews
-War Room w/ Glenn Beck
Back in the day when I was growing up my dad use to watch the Walter Cronkite Show, I believe that he is a lot like Larry King. They value the opinion on others and talk with respect. They keep an open mind on what their guests say before they interrupt them. Of course they all have their mood swings from time to time and cuss out someone that is really pressing on their last nerve. We need more anchors that care and that are not scared to cross that barrier on what needs to be said and how it should come across. Our country states we have "Freedom of Speech" so I really wonder why they do not allow their guests to use theirs.
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