Legendary CBS News Anchorman Walter Cronkite reporting on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy

A reflective Walter Cronkite gives journalists today much to ponder if we thoroughly consider his words expressed at the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards Ceremony, as he accepted the prestigious Award on behalf of CBS, September 17, 1987, in New Orleans.

“I’m greatly honored and deeply pleased that you should choose to bestow this award on me tonight.
I’m not normally a humble man, but humility is forced on anyone who shares the stage with those who have won your recognition for their work in broadcast journalism.
Ours is a much-maligned profession today, and, indeed, there are a lot of things that we all know we could improve. All we have to do is read our own publications–your Communicator, the Columbia Journalism Review, the reports of the excellent work of The Freedom Forum and the standing or special committees of The American Society of Newspaper Editors, the American Newspaper Publishers Association, the AP Managing Editors Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Broadcasters, and, of course the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
No other profession spends as much time examining its navel as we do–and we do it far more publicly than any of the others.
We rush to print with every morsel of self-criticism to the point that you would think we were dedicated to destroying the free press instead of preserving it.
Of course there are things wrong, with probably the most obvious manifestation being the “tabloid-ization” of too much of our work. Mainline journalism seems to have accepted the standards of what once was known as the penny press. It is to worry.
And, of course, the bottom line of our discomfort is the bottom line itself.
With almost total unanimity, our big, corporate owners, infected with the greed that marks the end of the 20th Century, stretch constantly for ever-increasing profit, condemning quality to take the hindmost. If there is any solution to this problem it might be found in educating the share-holding public to their responsibility in owning this business, which is fundamental to the preservation of our democracy.
If they understood the nature of this public service and treated their investment in it accordingly, we would be saved from compromising journalistic integrity in the mad scramble for ratings and circulation. In other words, if they did not expect the constantly increasing, unconscionable profits now expected from most investments but accepted a rational and steady return on their investment in this essential public service of newspapers and broadcast news.
You might give some thought to this organization promoting this idea. Utopian? Oh, I suppose so. But besides serving democracy it has its practical side of direct benefit to you. By making this case, you’ll get the monkey off your backs and direct the public’s dissatisfaction with our broadcasts and press where it belongs.
But we all know what is wrong–and as professionals, we all know how to fix it if given the mandate from our bosses, or if we can wrest control from the bottom liners. Let our battle cry be: Editors, not auditors.
Meanwhile, we can be mighty proud of our craft that is represented by those we’ve seen up here tonight. I’m mighty proud of our profession. I’m proud of the physical courage shown by many–in war and civil insurrection and in dozens of less spectacular ways.
I’m proud of those who expose the culpable even at the risk of their freedom, or even their lives.
I’m proud of those who have the courage to reject the favors of the newsmakers; those who do not become part of the establishment, who preserve access to the inner circle without becoming members of it.
I’m proud of those with courage to withstand the wrath of their neighbors and face social ostracism in pursuit of the truth.
I’m proud of those who have the courage to reject conformity with their colleagues and hold on to their vision of the truth while others around them seem blind and scornful.
I’m proud, too, of all those who work in the backrooms of our media–on rewrite, copy desks, assignment desks, editing film and tape–professionals all. Their devotion to this business may be greater than all those media stars they make look so good.
There are bad apples in our barrel, of course, but as a class, there is a purity of intent and purpose in journalism that is unique:
We are good conservatives, demanding proof of the need for change. We are good liberals, ideologically bound to no cause or dogma. And, so unfettered, we can make a claim of selflessness denied to other persons.
Our only enemies are those who would erect barriers between the people and the truth. And the perpetual struggle against them–ah, my friends, there is a crusade that’s worth the ride.
Thank you, and good luck.”
At his funeral so many accomplished individuals spoke to the character and integrity of Walter Cronkite; 60-minutes Andy Rooney’s account of his friend is exemplary.