Submitted by Andy, May 22, 2007 14:49

I can't speak to much about the Cronkite special as I did not see it. However, I'm guessing it was actually fact-checked, unlike this article.

First of all, Cronkite *was*, in fact, used several times by the network after his Evening News retirement. He *did*, in fact, provide analysis for at least one shuttle launch, seated right next to Dan Rather (I have it on tape if you need proof). He had his own series of documentaries on the network that ran over several years. He was repeatedly called upon to do essays for the Evening News and radio network when momentous things happened. (Again, I have one on tape, following the explosion of the shuttle Challenger five years after he left the Evening News chair.) By all accounts, Rather did his best to shove Walter to the side, but there's no reason to exaggerate what happened.

Second, one of the many honors heaped upon Cronkite after his "retirement" was a seat on the CBS board of directors. It was the same board that authorized the most significant gutting of news resources CBS has ever seen. By Peter Boyer's account, Cronkite made a speech to the board (in private) against this, but not much else. No immediate resignation from the board, no giving up of his million-dollar emeritus salary... to my knowledge, not even a tart op-ed piece (unlike his colleague, Andy Rooney).

Third, if Cronkite himself is upset by what has happened to the CBS Evening News, he has a funny way of showing it (assuming he watches it at all when not on his sailboat). He repeatedly gave Katie Couric his thumbs-up in interviews after she took over, and even gave the entire program his tacit approval by lending his voice to the introduction.

Fourth, there is ample evidence that Cronkite's old radio commentaries were largely ghostwritten, just as Dan Rather's were. (It was one of Peggy Noonan's first jobs in the communications field.)

I won't bother taking issue with Blum's personal opinions, except to ask: You *really* think stripteasing perfectly fits in with the Cronkite persona? And you really think Peter Jennings was the last news anchor to express emotions? Even if you don't count cablers like Anderson Cooper and Shepard Smith, I seem to recall Dan Rather breaking down in tears on Letterman after the 9/11 attacks.

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