Uncle Walter (was Re: why move Bruce??? )

[Shawn Mamros <mamros@MIT.EDU>]

>        I heard recently that Cronkite has been hired by some net other
>than CBS (CNN? maybe) to anchor the coverage of John Glenn blasting off in
>the space shuttle this fall. It made me wonder what Cronkite's relationship
>is now with CBS, if any.

According to his autobiography (highly recommended reading, BTW), Cronkite
did serve on the board of CBS for a few years after he retired from anchoring
the CBS Evening News.  Apparently, though, he fit in about as well as a
round peg in a square hole there, especially once Larry Tisch took the
helm at the Eye.  Ultimately, Cronkite and the other dissenters on the
board were pushed out by Tisch and his cronies - coincidentally (or perhaps
not so), the dissenters were all the oldest members of the board, and the
rest of the board decided to adopt a mandatory retirement age...  I also
don't think they got forced out until after Bill Paley died, but I'm less
certain of that.

Maybe it's just as well, for Cronkite if not for CBS - somehow, I can't see
Uncle Walter and Chairman Mel occupying the same time zone, let alone the
same boardroom...

Of course, we did all see Cronkite in a brief (all too brief, but perhaps
understandably so) role as part of CBS' 50th anniversary specials a few
months ago - both the (too) short one for the news dept. and the larger one
a week or two later.  Having him sign off the latter ("And that's the way
it is" and all) was a fitting finale to that show.

Whichever net did tap him to cover the Glenn shuttle flight (I'd assume
it is a cable net, and CNN seems likely - if somebody finds out for sure,
please let us know!) certainly made a wise choice.  Heck, that move alone
may very well finally get me to install cable at my place - seriously!

- -Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros@mit.edu

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