Walter Cronkite reportedly gravely ill

UPDATE July 17th:   Almost a month after reports of failing health, Walter Cronkite has died.

My father, Walter Cronkite, died,” his son Chip said just before 8 p.m. Eastern. CBS interrupted prime time programming to show an obituary for the man who defined the network’s news division for decades. Read an obituary by Douglas Martin here.

Mr. Cronkite’s family said last month that he was seriously ill with cerebrovascular disease.

Walter Cronkite, Iconic Anchorman, Dies – The New York Times

He will be missed.  Video highlights here…

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From June 19th, when reports surfaced that Cronkite was gravely ill:

This news comes as events in Tehran continue to unfold live through a Twitter stream by ‘new journalist’ @persiankiwi.

The contrasts are stark, and yet perhaps not so different.  At the core lies  integrity and truth in reporting.  Authenticity. Platforms change, but the rest should not.

We will hear “end of an era” more times than we can count.  This time, though, it will be true.

Walter Cronkite, the longtime CBS TV news anchor who was known as “The Most Trusted Man in America,” is gravely ill, according to media reports.The Web site Mediabistro.com cited several unnamed sources at CBS who say that Cronkite, 92, is near death and that the network has begun updating information for his obituary.

via Walter Cronkite: Walter Cronkite reportedly gravely ill – baltimoresun.com

After the initial news,  Cronkite’s assistant disputed “exaggerated” report

Former CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite isn’t well, but he is not nearly as ill as some web sites are reporting. “His condition is being grossly exaggerated,” Cronkite’s executive assistant Cynthia Dicrocco told us today. “He’s dealing with the challenges of being a 92-year-old man.” Thursday, Media Bistro’s TV Newser blog reported that the legendary newsman was “gravely ill” and perhaps near death. The web site did not cite a source for its information. Dicrocco said Cronkite had been ill recently, but is recuperating at home in New York with his companion Joanna Simon, sister of singer Carly Simon. Dicrocco would not reveal the nature of Cronkite’s illness, saying the family wishes to keep it private. “But it is not true that he’s gravely ill,” she said.