Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
Walter CronkiteRead
Helping set the day's agenda and deciding what we used and editing it, that was a journalistic high point. I liked reporting as well. Just doing the news - the live performance - wasn't important. Working on the desk was.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of planning and editorial decisions in journalism over simply reporting events.
Walter Cronkite reflects on his experience in journalism, highlighting that the real achievement lies in shaping narratives and managing content rather than the act of reporting live news itself. He values the editorial work that influences how the day's news is presented to the audience, seeing it as a critical aspect of journalism that requires skill and insight.
In practice
In a lecture on media ethics, I quoted Cronkite to emphasize the responsibility of editors.
Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
The death of Churchill at 90 was one of those watershed moments in which the obituary rises to a special calling beyond the sharing of remembered times. It gave an older generation a rare opportunity to explain something of itself to its children.
I suppose popularity is measured by ratings. If a broadcaster is known as the leader because of ratings, then that's where people most want to be seen and heard, so there's no question that there's an advantage.
Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.
I feel no compulsion to be a pundit. As a matter of fact, I really don't have that much to say about most things. Working with hard news satisfies me completely.
I think that our comfort is in our history.
I don't think journalism changes. It's about digging into stories and telling them well. The basic tenets of great reporting stay the same while things around it change. Technology has made reporting easier, but it has also caused job loss. Social media has increased discussion around topics, but it has its own challenges at times.
As I occasionally survey the pack of sycophantic shih tzus in the Washington press corps, wriggling on their bellies to kiss the feet of those in power, I feel plumb discouraged about the future of journalism.
The most important ethical issues and the most difficult ones are the human ones because a reporter has enormous power to hurt people.
I don't think that my kind of journalism has ever been universally popular. It's lonely out here.
I'm sometimes embarrassed by how clinical I can become when I'm out reporting.
The difference between Rappler and other newsgroups in the Philippines is that journalists control Rappler both editorially and commercially. We make decisions that are bad for business but protect the public sphere.
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