Steve Fogle's Feature

Steve Fogle's Feature "And That's The Way It Is"

We all recall Walter Cronkite's iconic signoff that echoes in the wake of his passing. It takes us back to when, for most Americans, understanding the way things were was as simple as turning on the evening news.

Over this past weekend, I watched several episodes of "Cronkite Remembers" on the Discovery Channel. It was a poignant reminder both of the turbulent times he lived in and his singular skill at describing the events in a way that we understood and trusted. The news was far from pleasant each night. He lived through and reported some of the worst news of our recent history: Jack Kennedy's assassination, the civil rights movement, the deaths of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, and the long nightmare that was Vietnam.

Certainly there was good news to report, from the burgeoning space program that took us to the moon, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the successes – however painfully purchased – of the civil rights movement. But, it was during the times of crisis that we turned to the reassuring voice and manner of Uncle Walter. Even in the most trying times, we found comfort and solace in his broadcasts. I've often wondered why and believe it comes down to a single idea: we trusted him.

We trusted him to investigate and report the facts as they were. So that we, individually and as a nation, could evaluate where we stood and make informed decisions about what we wanted to become as a nation. Because we trusted him, we could trust the facts and stories he presented to us.

Today, as our traditional media struggles with the new economy, the blogosphere, rising costs, and declining advertising revenue, we wonder how media outlets will look in five, ten, or 20 years. How do we engender the confidence and loyalty Walter did for so many years so that our media survives, even if in a slightly different form?

I believe the answer remains the same as in Walter's time at the anchor desk. The goal should remain to investigate and report the facts so that the viewing public can understand them and trust the source.

For perhaps the first time in our history, we have "news" available long before it can be thoroughly studied, analyzed and, in some instances, verified. The constant pressure of getting the news to the public can stress the analysis and verification aspects. While we may be questioning how the internet, blogs, and multitude of "citizen journalists" will impact our traditional papers, radio, and television outlets, the same basic questions remain. Can we trust the source? Is there a hidden agenda here? What are the reliable facts being reported? The questions can only be answered by qualified, principled journalists. Regardless of the medium used for delivery, the tried and true methods for gathering and reporting the news should remain the same. Journalists may change how they deliver their stories, but the care and diligence used in gathering and reporting the news should not change. The outlets may look different, sound different, and outwardly appear much different from their predecessors, but the inner workings of good news organizations will continue to flourish.

I was not privileged to have the opportunity to ask Walter for his views, but I would like to think he would agree with a slogan which hung over my father's desk for many years. It advised, "When you are through changing...you are through!"

Inevitable change is upon us, but what will ensure that reliable media always exists is to continue to do what Walter Cronkite did so well: investigate and report the story just the way it is.

Vaya con Dios, Uncle Walter.

— Steve Fogle is a partner at Jackson Walker. He can be reached at sfogle@jw.com.