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Helping set the day's agenda and deciding what we used and editing it, that was a journalistic high point. I liked reporting as well. Just doing the news - the live performance - wasn't important. Working on the desk was.
Walter Cronkite
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the importance of planning and editorial decisions in journalism over simply reporting events.

Walter Cronkite reflects on his experience in journalism, highlighting that the real achievement lies in shaping narratives and managing content rather than the act of reporting live news itself. He values the editorial work that influences how the day's news is presented to the audience, seeing it as a critical aspect of journalism that requires skill and insight.

Themes

JournalismReportingEditorialAgendaNews

In practice

Example use cases

In a lecture on media ethics, I quoted Cronkite to emphasize the responsibility of editors.

More from Walter Cronkite

Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
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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.
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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.
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Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.
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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.
Walter CronkiteRead
I think that our comfort is in our history.
Walter CronkiteRead

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