Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

cronkite / rather smackdown

“Most trusted man in America”™ Walter Cronkite seems to be getting his licks in before Dan Rather departs the CBS Evening News anchor chair. In an interview this week, Cronkite told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that CBS should have replaced Rather with Bob Schieffer years ago. (Washington Post: “Cronkite Says Schieffer Was Better Choice as CBS Anchor” - 03/08/05)

They’re going to find it’s going to be tough not to follow Dan so much as to follow Schieffer.

This comes fairly soon after Cronkite told The New Yorker that he felt that Rather was more playing a role than being a newsman. (Insert Will Ferrell Anchorman joke here?)

I’m not old enough to remember Cronkite’s days in the CBS anchor chair, but I do have some affection for him as the namesake of my j-school. (Through that, I got to meet him, super briefly, during one of his annual visits to campus; he signed my AP Stylebook.) And while I’m not a huge fan of Rather, I found his enthusuasm and eccentric idioms a sometimes welcome change from the more polished, “all the rough edges smoothed over” newscasters on other television news outlets.

The notion of Cronkite taking potshots at the man who unseated him, just as Rather himself is about to depart, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Not that Rather should be immune to criticism, or that his final days in the anchor chair should be filled only with platitudes and accolades; it just seems weirdly petty coming from Cronkite.