Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
Walter CronkiteRead
I feel no compulsion to be a pundit. As a matter of fact, I really don't have that much to say about most things. Working with hard news satisfies me completely.
Interpretation
Walter Cronkite emphasizes the satisfaction he derives from reporting hard news rather than engaging in commentary or opinion.
This quote reflects Walter Cronkite's humility and focus as a journalist. He indicates that he prefers to report facts and hard news rather than partake in the punditry that often accompanies the news. Cronkite's statement suggests a belief in the integrity of journalism, where the primary responsibility is to convey information accurately and without personal bias, allowing readers to form their own opinions.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of integrity in journalism.
Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
The death of Churchill at 90 was one of those watershed moments in which the obituary rises to a special calling beyond the sharing of remembered times. It gave an older generation a rare opportunity to explain something of itself to its children.
I suppose popularity is measured by ratings. If a broadcaster is known as the leader because of ratings, then that's where people most want to be seen and heard, so there's no question that there's an advantage.
Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.
I think that our comfort is in our history.
We all have our likes and our dislikes. But... when we're doing news - when we're doing the front-page news, not the back page, not the op-ed pages, but when we're doing the daily news, covering politics - it is our duty to be sure that we do not permit our prejudices to show. That is simply basic journalism.
I violated, apparently, an unspoken rule that we are supposed to take care of our own. Frankly, if that invites discomfort, I welcome it. I don't think there's enough discomfort in journalism, especially in Washington.
The great concern is that year after year, rising numbers of journalists are being killed in pursuit of their work. They are increasingly seen as not being neutral but rather as combatants by one side or the other.
The Center for Public Integrity is the real thing. A group of dedicated people who remember that great journalism is about grit and guts and stamina and razor-sharp instincts. They are, thank heaven, here to stay.
Journalism without a moral position is impossible. Every journalist is a moralist. It's absolutely unavoidable.
As a journalist, I know what it is like to incur the self-righteous wrath of people who denounce you for things you didn't say or didn't mean.
If youre a reporter, the easiest thing in the world is to get a story. The hardest thing is to verify. The old sins were about getting something wrong, that was a cardinal sin. The new sin is to be boring.
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