At the end of the commercial break, Cronkite was still on the phone getting the full story. Producers and newsman were apparently rushing to get him off the phone as the show resumed. Instead, Cronkite looked straight into the camera, raised a finger as if to say “hold on a second here” and continued the call in front of the American public with the cameras rolling.
He then told America who he was on the phone with, and finally, after hanging up, shared the news that the President had died. It’s amazing to me that in an era of deadlines and general rush, when everything is due yesterday (no less true in a newsroom of the 1970s), when everything must be scripted, polished, refined; here you had a newsman who took a call in the middle of a broadcast and stayed on the line until he had the full story, instead of rushing off the phone prematurely because the cameras were rolling.
Cronkite had the stature, or the judgment, or the wisdom, or the trust of the American people to say to them, “hold on a minute” I’m getting some important information here. Let me get this right versus let me get this fast. A valuable lesson for us all.
Cronkite Fans: rememberingcronkite