While the death of Walter Cronkite may have initiated a lot of chatter bemoaning the changes that have occurred in TV news coverage since his heyday, his death also provided a great platform for the main stream media to show off its strengths, as well as its ultimate weaknesses.

Michael Jackson’s death may be infinitely more interesting to the average person these days than manned spaceflight, but his signature move was named after something first done by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong 40 years ago today.

The passing of Walter Cronkite brings back memories of a time when the CBS Evening News not only dominated the ratings, but the news conversation as a whole. And it turns a light on the current situation at the network, where the newscast sits in a clear third. There are many reasons for this: here’s why the CBS Evening News is struggling in the ratings, how it can turn things around…and why none of it is Katie Couric’s fault.

It didn’t take long to see the significance of the CBS special about Walter Cronkite tonight. After a silent screen announced that 60 Minutes would not be airing, and why, a voice began to speak: “There are thousands of voices delivering the news today, but there once was a time, not long ago, when one voice mattered most.”

It was an opening segment that set the tone for a powerful tribute, from fellow journalists and more, to a man who meant so much to the fourth estate.

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 [...]

It’s not often that somebody dying makes me feel young. But the death of Walter Cronkite has inspired me with an overwhelming feeling of youthfulness. You see, I really know next to nothing about Walter Cronkite.  He means nothing at all to me. Hearing that he’s dead was like a looking at a well-painted apartment [...]

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.

It’s hard to believe that Walter Cronkite has not been a staple on the air for over 28 years.  Through all that time, he has achieved something few in this age of information overload could do when removed from the spotlight for so long. He remained the standard bearer, the person so many journalists wished [...]

Once known as “the most trusted man in America,” Walter Cronkite has died at the age of 92. He became a cultural icon and legend of journalism having anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. Many of noted that his death has signaled an end to a previous era and drawn a litany of praise from those currently following in his footsteps.

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.

The way the world receives breaking news now would have been unheard of in Walter Cronkite‘s heyday. The voice of God role has been taken on by the voice of the collective, which is constantly informing us of the way it is. Before I was even able to get home and in front of a computer I had been swamped with Cronkite updates via Twitter. Here’s what it all looked like at a glance, in reverse chronological order starting at 8:11pm and ending around 11:30pm.

Here is the special report from CBS this evening, anchored by Katie Couric this evening, one of Cronkite’s successors in the anchor chair at CBS.

News legend and cultural icon Walter Cronkite has died at the age of 92. Once known as “the most trusted man in America” Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981 with his trademark sign-off, “And that’s the way it is…”