Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
Give news a little more time, and don't request that they also, in their news time, entertain. We're not entertainers. We're journalists. And we need more time to do our job well.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of allowing journalists sufficient time to report news accurately without the pressure of entertainment.
Walter Cronkite highlights the distinction between journalism and entertainment, advocating for an understanding that journalists require adequate time to cover stories thoroughly. His statement is a call to prioritize factual reporting over the sensationalism often seen in the media landscape, urging the audience to appreciate the depth of journalism beyond surface-level entertainment.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the importance of journalistic integrity, you might reference Walter Cronkite's views on the role of time in reporting.
More from Walter Cronkite
All quotes →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 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.
I think that our comfort is in our history.
Similar quotes
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Whenever you're reporting, there's always something you can't say or write, but the questions, you always want to get as close to that line as possible. You want to ask the tough questions.
I kept thinking, I'm not going to do political journalism, because there's no way to keep my principles and be a political journalist, so I'll edit a popular science magazine. This will be my salvation, and I'll emerge with my integrity intact. That didn't even happen.
In campaign reporting more than any other kind of press coverage, reporters aren't just covering a story, they're a part of it - influencing outcomes, setting expectations, framing candidates - and despite what they tell themselves, it's impossible to both be a part of the action and report on it objectively.
Purchasing a story in order to bury it is a practice that many in the tabloid industry call 'catch and kill.'
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.