CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

Nobody has posted any sort of comments on any nightly newscast, but I couldn't resist saying something that has been on my mind ever since Dan Rather took over the anchor spot in 1981.

This newscast used to be every bit as good as Peter Jennings's during the days of Walter Cronkite, but it has now sadly declined. When Dan Rather was announced as the new anchorman back in 1981, I was delighted, because I had seen Rather's work as a field reporter and I was very impressed.

But Rather has turned out to be the stiffest anchorman I have ever seen on television. It's almost as if he were intimidated by that close-up camera; he has an uneasy look on his face half the time, as if he were still in training or something. But what is even worse, he seems to be aware of it and overcompensates by trying too hard to be relaxed; he tries to put more variety into his delivery and sounds like a bad actor at an audition--the enthusiasm he puts into his voice is just too phony. He sounds like someone doing a commercial. And his forced attempts to sound like a "regular guy" by using catchphrases and "cute" remarks are so bad they're embarrassing.

The strange thing is that Rather is still perfectly fine when delivering a field report, and the answer may be that here the camera is much farther away from him. Here he seems relaxed and totally involved in the story he is covering.

To me, it is rather amazing that a professional who has been around for years should be so awkward as an anchorman. No other anchorman I've ever seen, on any network or local broadcast (and that includes CNN) has ever seemed so ill-at-ease when reporting in closeup.

This does not take away from the overall quality of the broadcast, though--the ONLY thing wrong with it is Rather's apparent discomfort as an anchorman.

This was the news with the master of news broadcasts, Walter Cronkite. I grew up watching him on weekly programs like You Are There and The Twentieth Century. He had a magnificent voice and he embodied the role. When I graduated from university and lived through the Nixon and Watergate years, it was Walter Cronkite I tuned to for the news. I felt that the audience was getting the best American journalism could offer. He was often popping up at political conventions as the head of a team of competent journalists but he was the boss. I always watched CBS over the others. It was rated the No.1 broadcast company at the time and it always came across that way. Roger Mudd was a very good replacement when Cronkite was on leave. I preferred him to Dan Rather, who actually replaced Cronkite when he stepped down as the anchor. When Dan Rather took over, it wasn't the same...so strong was Walter Cronkite's persona. So there it is! My rating is a perfect ten. No hesitation.

Sure the media receives a lot of flack. They always have and they always will. Just keep in mind that the media, CBS, and all the rest of them , is in the business of reporting FACTS! The TRUTH, whatever that may be, does not live on the surface. You have to dig for it. Kudos to the First AMendment of the Constitution of These United States of America.

Today, unfortunately without Nora, in a less than neutral reporting of what Trump said in California regarding the water shortage during firefighting, you put the blame on an empty reservoir, & not at all the refusal of allowing the pumping of water from Northern California. 1. If a reservoir was empty, it should be considered criminally negligent to not have a back-up source to supply the needs/requirements of the areas affected. 2. This state has put the needs of a 3" fish, the Delta Smelt, over the needs of millions of residents. Why not tell the whole truth? Never mind. I'm watching Lester.

The CBS evening news is an exemplary platform for informative news reporting. The journalistic integrity of the anchors has been a key ingredient through the years. It is somewhat laughable to have such an excellent platform marred by the unseemly and relentless pharmaceutical advertising that punctuates this program. Is America so drugged out that we must discuss personal medical conditions on prime time? Can we not leave this topic in a doctor's office? Many of the ads repeat several times in a half hour. Yes, there is help out there for critical lifestyle issues and yes, we (all) who eventually suffer from one or the other will hopefully find that help. Perhaps the MadMen money could be put to better use in our already stressed medical system