Remembering the Moon and Walter Cronkite 40 Years Later and Today

Here's what I remember about watching the Apollo 11 astronauts landing on the moon and the first steps on the lunar surface 40 years ago today:

- We watched Walter Cronkite's coverage on CBS News. More on that in a moment.
- We were glued to the TV during the day, but once the astronauts landed safely on the moon, we took a break. We were told it would take a few hours before they were ready to begin the first walk.
- It was late at night - for someone my age - to be up when Neil Armstrong took that first step. My entire family sat on my parents bed. My dad had to wake me up to see Armstrong on the moon. I'm glad he didn't let me sleep.
- It was a national event that everyone was watching and talking about. Yes, it was bigger than American Idol.

CBS News coverage of Apollo 11 moon landing (Courtesy: CBS News Youtube Channel)

That brings me to Cronkite, who passed away Friday night at the age of 92. He covered so many huge stories and was the man who delivered so many major happenings as he sat behind the desk.

The assassinations of President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior were announced to the nation by Cronkite. But he also delivered the devastating blow to President Johnson that the war in Vietnam couldn't be won by American forces.

The president said infamously that if he lost Cronkite, he'd lost middle America.

Walter Cronkite was called "the most trusted man in America" and it was based on actual polling data. I don't know how any broadcaster will ever reach such a position.

The reasons are pretty obvious:

1. Cronkite was an anchor during what I call the four channel era of TV. You had three network TV affiliates with a couple of local newscasts a day. There was a morning and afternoon newspaper plus radio stations gave you news at the top and bottom of the hour. No internet. No cable news. No talk radio. No USA Today. The options allowed one talented, tireless broadcaster to achieve that following. (two out of three Tvs in the country were watching Cronkite cover the moon landing on July 20, 1969)

2. Journalists are having a tough time keeping the public trust these days. There are examples where reporting was reckless, but most national outlets come with a perspective label that really wasn't present in Cronkite's days.

Fox News is viewed as right, Republican and conservative. MSNBC is left, Democrat and liberal or progressive. New York Times is left, Wall Street Journal is right. Too many readers and viewers will weigh information based on the source.

3. There is so much opinion related to news coverage now. That's especially evident from cable news where debates over issues and opinion is needed to feed the 24/7 beast. Cronkite's famous opinion on the Vietnam War would have been dissected by media watchdog websites that didn't exist in 1968.

Walter Cronkite never had to deal with Media Matters or Media Research Center.

But Cronkite did give us a Joe Friday "just the facts" style that made his Vietnam War opinion so memorable.

Cronkite reflects on his Vietnam War broadcast (courtesy Newseum Youtube Channel)

Maybe his opinion came from a reporter who covered World War II and was shaped by years of covering such conflicts. I don't know and won't speculate.

I do know Walter Cronkite was a giant in an industry that won't see his like again.

"Face The Nation" host Bob Schieffer and "60 Minutes" correspondent Morley Safer about their time working with Walter Cronkite (Courtesy: CBS News Youtube Channel)