Essay --

Walter Cronkite: One of America’s most beloved and well-known television personalities left a lasting impact on the presentation of news on television. (wrong use of a colon.. did you mean to have this sentence as a title?) As Cronkite grew with his network, so did his power and influence over the minds of the American public. (awkward transition between your intro, whichi is too brief to begin with, and the next part) Cronkite was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, and later during his high school years, shared his first taste of journalism by working on the local high school newspaper. (Barron) Later accepted into the University of Texas at Austin, Cronkite participated in more newspaper organizations and fraternities until he decided to drop out of school late in his junior year. After being offered several reporting jobs covering news and sports, Cronkite began his broadcasting career as a radio announcer for WKY in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma before switching over to a sports an nouncer for KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri. (Barnhart) World War II soon broke out and Cronkite was chosen as one of eight journalists to cover the stories going on in the rampaging Europe. Gaining a reputation as a big-time journalist, Cronkite continued to expand on his credibility by covering the Nuremberg Trials, a series of cases that prosecuted the leaders of Nazi Germany. As several years passes, the tides of war finally grew to a close and Cronkite returned home where he soon himself a job at CBS News in 1950. (No real focus here. What are you trying to accomplish here? Are you going with a chronological coverage of his life? If so, prep the reader for it. I thought this was still the introductory paragraph at first) â€Å"Television became a powerful medi... ...rrow who encouraged voicing one’s opinion, Cronkite refused to share his own beliefs in his broadcasts. But even if he was objective, Cronkite was not afraid to smile or show enthusiasm and emotions during the show. He gave off this warm and fuzzy personality that brought in many viewers and his signature sign-off, â€Å"That’s the way it is,† became popular for its folksy charm. â€Å"Before long, viewers were calling him Uncle Walter.† (Ritchie) The actual use of Water’s name was a new change brought as well. Before this time, radio stations at the time did not want people to use their real names for fear of taking their listeners with them if they left. For example, the news stations did not want the audience to become too attached to a certain reporter or host, such as Cronkite, since of that reporter left, then many fans would follow suit and drop the station’s ratings.