The Post Cronkite Era

Since the death of Walter Cronkite there has been a lot of chatter about how the stature of the evening news has since diminished. True the evening news no longer has the status it once had because there are so many other sources for people to get their information about the world around them. Many of the same people believe the role of the anchorman (woman) has been diminished. Again, this is only partially true, people still turn into the networks for breaking stories and big events.

After 9/11 I turned to Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw to get me through the horrible days that followed. Polls and rating numbers showed that viewership of network news increased during that time. It has since fallen off somewhat but I suspect many people stuck around. I realize that I may be an oddity but I always think I may have missed something if I do not catch Brian Williams at 6:30, despite the fact that I listen NPR all day or at least every chance I get. I need Brian to give me a summary of the news of the day.

I also believe the role of the anchor is still extremely important, there may be more of them now but the three that matter are Brian, Charlie & Katie. They are the ones that are the sought after talk show guests, they are the ones who everyone wants to interview them, they are the ones whose names are always in bold print when there are stories about TV news in the print media, they are the ones that make the gossip columns. Think about the impact the interviews Katie & Charlie had with Sarah Palin had on the campaign. They were devastating and Palin never recovered. No one really remembers all her other interviews but her Katie Couric interview will be remembered forever.

Yes, there will never be anchor people with the stature of Walter, John or David again. Yes, we have more resources than ever for information and news gathering. But they all pale in the shadow of the historical prestige of CBS, NBS & ABC in that order. Many still wait to hear what the big three have to say before the believe it. I know I do.