The giant  rear-view mirror held up by Walter Cronkite’s death, seen through the fog of adulation and nostalgia for historic feats of journalism,  brings into focus the essence of his importance:  it was the trust he inspired — by dint of professional  skills, personal accessibility and exposure as the  first  designated anchor  for the new [...]

For anyone whose political identity was formed during the poison years bracketed by Walter Cronkite‘s tenure as CBS evening anchor, the avuncular newsman was like the kindly, reassuring narrator of a political horror story.

If, as CBS News president Sean McManus mourns, that Cronkite’s status “will never be duplicated again,” it’s not only due to the modern fragmentation of the news audience — it’s also because, ideally, the country will never again go through such an extended trainwreck.

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Walter Cronkite – known in his time as “The Most Trusted Man In America” and “Uncle Walter” who shared the news with America in their living rooms each night – is dead at 92, after a long life and one of the great careers in televison news.

In his 19 years helming the CBS Evening News - from 1962 to 1981 – he reported some of the most important moments of his time – and of television’s early history.

Yesterday, Walter Cronkite’s voice opened the CBS Evening News for the last time. Cronkite, who died Friday evening at age 92, has been the voice announcing the CBS Evening News since September 5, 2006, when Katie Couric took over as anchor of the broadcast that Cronkite helmed for 19 years. Last night, that familiar voice welcomed viewers for the last time: CBS News will be be retiring the Cronkite voiceover.