Iconic Newsman Walter Cronkite Dead at 92

(NEWSER) - The tributes are pouring in for Walter Cronkite:

• Howard Kurtz, Washington Post: His "passing, in the end, is the passing of an era, an era of black-and-white television, of mass audiences, of a slower time when the country waited for the headlines at 6:30 in the evening. No anchor—no journalist—will ever wield that authority again."
• Jim Poniewozik, Time: He "was so thoroughly and uniquely linked with the word 'trust' that it is tempting to say that the word should be buried with him."

(NEWSER) - Yeah, he was the most trusted man in America and all that, but Boing Boing points out a different reason we're going to miss Walter Cronkite: The man had rhythm. "True fact, Walter Cronkite was a hot drummer," the site quotes John Perry Barlow, the Grateful Dead lyricist, as tweeting. "Once saw him play with Mickey Hart, Mike Gordon, & Mutatator." Click on the link below to get to the video. Cronkite makes an appearance about halfway in, next to Phish's Gordon. More»

Couric anchors CBS Evening News for last time

(NEWSER) - Katie Couric, the first woman to be solo anchor of an evening network news show, has officially signed off on her 5-year stint at CBS. Couric's final CBS Evening News broadcast included an interview with Hillary Clinton and a "5 years in 5 minutes" retrospective of her time as anchor, Reuters reports. More»

Role in 9/11 health bill points to journalism's greats

(NEWSER) - By taking up a cause—the 9/11 health bill—and getting quick results, Jon Stewart is following in the footsteps of news greats and "advocacy journalists" Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, professor of television Robert Thompson tells the New York Times . Murrow helped shift public opinion on the Sen. Joseph McCarthy hearings; Cronkite’s views on the stalemate in Vietnam influenced Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for reelection. Though Thompson acknowledges the fact that Stewart's impact doesn't yet measure up to Murrow and Cronkite's, he argues that the comparison is a valid one, because barring Stewart’s help, the bill would likely have floundered. More»

CBS execs met with CNN anchor about Evening News gig

(NEWSER) - Network bosses may be eying Anderson Cooper to replace Katie Couric as anchor of the CBS Evening News: CBS executives met with the CNN anchor a few months ago to discuss the anchor job, according to two TV insiders. Couric's contract expires in mid-2011, and Anderson was apparently in the running to replace her even before his attention-grabbing coverage of the Haiti earthquake in January. More»