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I can swear on a stack of Bibles that not once in doing the 'CBS Evening News' for 19 years - well, I take it back. Once perhaps. But during 19 years, with perhaps one exception, was I ever aware of any political or commercial pressure on that broadcast whatsoever.
Walter Cronkite
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Walter Cronkite emphasizes the independence of journalism from external pressures.

In this quote, Walter Cronkite reflects on his extensive career as a news broadcaster, asserting that his reporting on the 'CBS Evening News' was largely free from political or commercial influence. He acknowledges a rare exception but underscores the importance of maintaining journalistic integrity and objectivity in delivering news to the public, which he considers crucial for a functional democracy.

Themes

JournalismIntegrityFreedomPressureNews

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of independent journalism.

More from Walter Cronkite

Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
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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.
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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.
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Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.
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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.
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I think that our comfort is in our history.
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