Inside The Newsroom

  When I heard the news that Walter Cronkite had died, I was heartbroken. Like so many American households, he was a fixture in my house, the voice of reason, the one voice you trusted to get you through hard times.

I grew up in a home where watching the news wasn't an occasional thing; it was a nightly requirement. My father and I sat there and watched the entire half hour. Then he asked me questions about what I had watched, basically like a quiz. (He was a high school English and History teacher for 31 years, so you see why.)

He wanted me to learn about the world around me, to understand what was happening and why, so that I would perhaps better understand where we were going. And Walter Cronkite was the narrator of that lesson. Every night, every newscast, every major story of my childhood, he was there.

What my father didn't know at the time was that not only was I learning about the world around me, but the foundation of who I was to become as an adult was being laid. I paid attention to the stories, but more so, I paid attention to the man, to Cronkite. What I saw each night was a man doing something incredibly important. He was weaving the fabric that bound all of us together, telling the stories that made up who we were as a society. And that had a profound affect on me.

I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, what he's doing is so important. I must do this. I have to do this."

I was inspired. And that started me down the path to journalism. Walter Cronkite and my father planted the seed.

And I know I'm not alone.

So many people in the CBS4 Newsroom are journalists inspired by Cronkite.

Al Sunshine, our Chief Consumer Investigator, who has served South Florida for over 37 years, posted this on the CBS4 Facebook page:
"Words fail to express what he meant to me and millions of people who turned to him for honesty and plain talk. Miss him even more today."

Antonio Mora, our anchor, former network news man himself, wrote:
"Terribly sad to hear about Walter Cronkite's death. He was a role model to so many of us, the man who defined the broadcast news business."

Jorge Estevez, a reporter here at WFOR wrote:
"I felt the same way you did watching Cronkite, only in my house it was Peter Jennings which I watched with my dad. Those were the best memories my dad and I shared. I will never forget what he said to me when I asked him, 'Dad why are you watching the news in English' He said, 'I can learn about the world and learn a new language at the same time.' I thought, 'Wow. I want to do that one day.'"

Stephen Stock, our I-Team investigator, wrote:
"He was the inspiration for me to become a TV journalist. My drive to be a good journalist was to be like him."

So many of us are in this business because of Cronkite. And so many of us aspire to be like him. We hold his ideals as our own. I'm sure some of you reading now are shaking your heads, thinking, "no way are the journalists of today like Cronkite."

Just take this post on Facebook:
Colin wrote: "We still have journalists? I thought we just had people who read teleprompter news gathered from websites who make slightly off-topic, never funny jokes before plugging the new American Idol."

Colin makes a valid point. The face of journalism and television news has changed drastically since the days Walter Cronkite was on air. There are those in our field who do just read, do no storytelling of their own, and mix their own opinions with fact to the point the line is so blurred people can't tell the difference.

Put that together with the fact that now, instead of a few voices each night, there are literally thousands. Now instead of the half-hour evening news, there is news around the clock, on cable, on the web, even on our phones. With all that time to fill, we're bound to get people who treat the term "journalism" lightly and loosely.

But know that among the thousands of voices there are those of us who still believe in the basic foundation of journalism that Walter helped build; pure, unbiased, straightforward, powerful, and critically important to our society.

Antonio Mora, anchor for our 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts spent 8 years reporting for ABC Nightly News, Nightline and anchoring Good Morning America. He now works with our Executive Producer acting as a managing editor for the 11 p.m. news. He looks at every story that goes on our air in the 5, 6, and 11 p.m. news. He is our watchdog for good writing in our newsroom.

Michele Gillen, a broadcast journalist for over 25 years, is a former network investigative correspondent. She has a long history of doing investigative reports that result in significant legislative and policy changes.

Eliott Rodriguez has been a broadcast journalist serving South Florida since 1980. Every week he hosts a show called "News & Views with Eliott Rodriguez" where he tackles major issues facing our community all the while holding those in power accountable.

Those are just three of the countless people at WFOR who hold to the true ideals of journalism and who serve this community. But I think what Jawan Strader, anchor and reporter, wrote sums it up perfectly:

"In death comes reflection, and I believe when we reflect on Cronkite's life as a journalist, we will know what it is to be a TRUE journalist. Why we do what we do; why we are voices for those in the community who may not otherwise be heard."

What we do binds people together. We give people a sense of community.
I know I probably sound corny, but I had to share this with you. All of us in the newsroom at WFOR are journalists. What we do everyday is important. And we take it very seriously. We consider ourselves the watchdogs for social injustices, the storytellers of our age, the recorders and interpreters of history as it happens.

So know that there are those of us who hold this charge dearly, who believe it's our calling to provide understanding, perspective, and perhaps a little hope.

In the words of a journalism icon, "That's the way it is."

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