Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
Walter CronkiteRead
We all have our likes and our dislikes. But... when we're doing news - when we're doing the front-page news, not the back page, not the op-ed pages, but when we're doing the daily news, covering politics - it is our duty to be sure that we do not permit our prejudices to show. That is simply basic journalism.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Journalists must set aside personal biases to report the news accurately.
Walter Cronkite emphasizes the importance of objectivity in journalism, particularly when covering significant news stories. He argues that journalists have a duty to present the news fairly and without allowing personal likes or dislikes to influence their reporting, thus upholding the principles of basic journalism.
Themes
JournalismObjectivityReportingBiasNews
In practice
Example use cases
In a journalism class discussion on ethics, a student quoted Cronkite to highlight the importance of impartial reporting.
More from Walter Cronkite
All quotes →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.
Walter CronkiteRead
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.
Walter CronkiteRead
Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.
Walter CronkiteRead
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.
Walter CronkiteRead
I think that our comfort is in our history.
Walter CronkiteRead
Similar quotes
We cannot make good news out of bad practice.
Edward R. MurrowRead
Whenever you're reporting, there's always something you can't say or write, but the questions, you always want to get as close to that line as possible. You want to ask the tough questions.
Michael HastingsRead
The really tough thing would have been to decide to take Woodward and Bernstein off the story. They were carrying the coal for us - in that their stories were right.
Ben BradleeRead
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.
Soledad O'BrienRead
If an investigative reporter finds out that someone has been robbing the store, that may be 'gotcha' journalism, but it's also good journalism.
Ben BradleeRead
I'm sometimes embarrassed by how clinical I can become when I'm out reporting.
Nicholas KristofRead