Posted At : July 22, 2009 8:12 AM | Posted By : Judette
Related Categories: Media, Leadership

If you like me grew up with a hardcore journalist for a father, chances are you hero-worshipped Walter Cronkite’s legacy and went to school just so you could be like him.

I did but I never was.

Studying Cronkite’s style of news delivery at Emerson, waiting in a long line that curled all the way to Newberry Street in Boston just to hear him speak made me realise the importance of not doing things by half measure and taking great pride in the any work you do just because it matters.

It’s not for applause.

It’s not for any feelings self importance.

You deliver good work because as Cronkite’s brand of journalism indicated, it is the singular coin of communion that has real and long-lasting value.

Today’s fragmented media landscape may mean that we will never have another anchor/ journalist with the title, “Most trusted in the world.”

Too bad.

Because in a world where reliance is as scarce as the truth, more than ever Cronkite’s coin is needed.

Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0) |

Print |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! Share

TrackBacks

There are no trackbacks for this entry.

Trackback URL for this entry:
http://www.mangomediacaribbean.com/blog/trackback.cfm?A202F4E8-D955-B5B3-A178A1C6FE539903

[Add Trackback]

Comments

[Add Comment]

True. Credibility is very hard to get and very easy to lose these days. Consistency helps. Speak truth to power, instead of cozying up to it. Disclose your biases at the outset. Treat people with respect even if they disagree with you, and only go off if they choose to be disingenuous.

The coin that Cronkite dealt in (getting his credibility by showing what was happening in Vietnam insteading of going along with Robert McNamara's line) is pretty debased now.

The true state of the media can be shown by the fact that his mantle has fallen to a few media people and more surprisingly, non-journalists. Ananpour... yes. Some of the folk on CNN International... yes. Trevor McDonald... yes.

Jon Stewart? Surprisingly, yes. The Daily Show in Craig Kilborn's day was a show about silly news headlines. Under Stewart, it has morphed into a critique of the media business, and also provides an airing for the non-mainstream and relevant - much more so than the US Sunday morning talkshops.

# Posted By Richard J | 7/22/09 8:59 AM

I agree with you that it is important not to do things by half measure and that people should take great pride in their work just because it matters. It is amazing how much a person can achieve, and how many people a person can touch when they do something with a passion and a drive. If we just do things half way because we feel it’s just another thing we have to do...we wouldn't be able to achieve much. A good friend guided me to this website, and I was taken by some of the work done by Mango media. Keep up!! I'm surely learning!

# Posted By d-maxie | 7/23/09 1:30 AM

One of the treasures of writing this blog has to be the feedback. Thanks for the kind remarks d-maxie. Richard, you need to write a blog of your own.

I think good journalism still has a very important and real place but the platforms have become so diversified that a singular voice, like that of Cronkite, will never again bind us together as a global village. Technology has replaced that voice.

I read yesterday that people now get their news from 8 different sources on a daily basis. That's change. Still I think the coin of our communion so important in Cronkite's time still matters, yes, even today.

Oh and Richard you are so right about Jon Stewart.

# Posted By Judette Coward Puglisi | 7/23/09 10:34 AM

[Add Comment]

5am At Mango Media Caribbean

Mango Media Caribbean

Cronkite’s Coin