If you gave yourself 15 seconds to list as many journalists as you could, I bet your list would be a split between current national journalists, local journalists you've known over the course of your lifetime and national journalists from the past. My list, for example, would include Anderson Cooper, Boyd Huppert (KARE-11), and Edward R. Murrow, respectively.
These journalists, for various reasons, have burned themselves into our brains. One name, in particular, I'd like to discuss now, and that's native-Missourian Walter Cronkite. Twitter informs me the news legend is rumored to be near death. I saw two articles posted about this:
Still, neither these nor the countless other returns I get when I Google "cronkite near death" are from national news sources, and so I remain skeptical.
However, my point about Cronkite is not focused on his potential passing, significant though that would be were it, indeed, true. Rather, in the article on gawker.com is a link to the broadcast where Cronkite announces Kennedy's death. What a stunning example of going live without all the details!
Also, if Cronkite is on one end of the journalism longevity spectrum and I am on the other, I'd like to share an experience I had as I took a step toward those of Cronkite's ilk.
Journalism Response
CBS news, November 1963
Before I launch into an analysis, here is the video I am referencing. I will point out specific moments afterward, but take note of how personal he is. Though the situation is intense, I feel he is speaking just to me. He's not married to his sheets of information - clearly on the desk to his right - nor is he a rote fact-machine. He tells a story...as it's unfolding...in all its significance.
He spends the first 30 seconds telling viewers exactly what happened and updating them with all the things CBS knows: both confirmed and unknown. Cronkite speaks carefully and deliberately about what is still unconfirmed.
Cronkite then tosses to the local reporter in Dallas, who fills viewers in on what's happening on the scene, though he seems a little more quick to broadcast rumors, such as the president having died. Though we know in retrospect he was technically correct, the word was not confirmed when he spoke it.
At 1:37, we see Cronkite pause to listen to a report coming into the newsroom. Cronkite then shares with the viewers it was a report they'd already heard. I felt instantly more drawn in to Cronkite because he included me in the breaking news and explained to me what had just taken place where he was.
The toss back to the seemingly-ongoing feed in Dallas acts as a safety net - for Cronkite, himself, to intercept the latest news (and possibly grab a glass of water) while the minute-or-so of the local reporter comes through.
Up until the very end, Cronkite keeps filling viewers in with little details about the day and repeating what's already known and yet unknown. For the time he has to fill, it comes across as surprisingly direct and not circular (saying the exact same things over and over again as a "filler").
From 5:00 on, Cronkite deals with his own emotions and the responsibility of informing a nation of its loss. I can't exactly tell whether Cronkite is choked up or simply in disbelief, but the official news that the president died clearly knocked him off his "game" for a moment. I think he maintained incredible professionalism, pulled viewers in by showing his human side and didn't exhibit any kind of "bias" by becoming overwhelmed by the death of the president. The president is the president, and the national implications of an assassination are significant.
I take away from this video the professional and in-control demeanor Cronkite maintained throughout the entire thing and how he made the breaking news feel like a conversation, though a very serious one.
My Experience
Despite having not even two years of Columbia living under my belt, my work as a journalist - both on the student level and as one at KBIA or KOMU-8 TV - has taught me much about the area.
This morning in my Broadcast II course, professor Greeley Kyle gave us a quiz on mid-Missouri geography. Without having formally studied, I knew the vast majority of the quiz, including the location of five mid-Missouri cities and the major roads that run through our viewing area. This is because I've covered enough stories in enough places and traveled around so that I know the basic lay-out.
Even more rewarding was my coverage of the most recent Columbia city council meeting. I walked in a realized I could name and recognize several community members - not just those serving on the council, but members of the audience, as well. In fact, one particular gentleman whom I had interviewed for a previous story I approached for this story as well, since I knew he was an expert on the topic I was covering.
I like recognizing community members due to journalism work. It drives home the fact that I'm reporting the news for these people in this community. The more I stick with this business, the more familiar I'll get with wherever I end up - and whoever's there.
I can only imagine how many people Walter Cronkite knows.
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