biography
| name: |
Cronkite, Walter (Leland, Jr)
|
pronunciation:
[krongkiyt]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1916– )
|
| biography:
| Journalist and broadcaster, born in St Joseph, Missouri, USA. Raised in Houston, TX, he decided to become a journalist after reading a magazine article about a foreign correspondent. He left the University of Texas to work for the Houston Post (1935), later working for Midwestern radio stations. During World War 2, he covered the European front for United Press and served as chief United Press correspondent at the Nuremberg trials. Joining Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) News in 1950, he worked on a variety of programmes, and covered national political conventions and elections (1952–81). He helped inaugurate the CBS Evening News (1962) and presented it until his retirement (1981). The hallmarks of his style were honesty, impartiality and level-headedness, and ‘And that's the way it is’ was his jaunty nightly sign-off. Identified in public opinion polls as the man Americans most trusted, he provided a voice of reason during the Vietnam and Watergate eras. After retiring, he hosted CBS's Universe (1982), co-produced Why in the World (1981) for Public Broadcasting System, and hosted Dinosaur (1991) for Arts and Entertainment Cable television. |
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