and that's the way it is

 

On March 6, 1981, millions of people in the country watched Walter Cronkite’s last broadcast. By clicking on the link below, you can hear it again:

"And that's the way it is": Walter Cronkite's final sign off - YouTube

Cronkite had reported from the European front in World War II and anchored CBS's coverage of the 1952 and 1956 elections, as well as the 1960 Olympics. He took over as the network's premier news anchor in April of 1962, just in time to cover the most dramatic events of the 1960s. The Cuban Missile Crisis came six months into his tenure, and a year later Cronkite would break the news that President John F. Kennedy had been shot. The footage of Cronkite removing his glasses and composing himself as he read the official AP report of Kennedy's death, which he did 38 minutes after the president was pronounced dead in Dallas, is one of the most enduring images of one of the most traumatic days in American history. Cronkite would cover the other assassinations that rocked the country over the coming years, including those of Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and John Lennon. He also reported on some of the most uplifting moments of the era, most famously the Moon Landing in 1969.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/walter-cronkite-retires-from-cbs-evening-news

One of the reasons that Cronkite attracted such a large audience was that were fewer options to watch for most of his career.

That all changed on June 1, 1980, when CNN first went on the air. Today, there are HUNDREDS of cable networks to watch, and FOX “news” is consistently the most watched – even though it is not actually a news channel. When Roger Aisles founded the network, he called it an “entertainment” channel, so you are less likely to get real news when you tune in.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_CNN_(1980%E2%80%932003)

 Having said that, though, both FOX and the traditional networks have broadcast some memorable events. With the exception of the last episode of M*A*S*H in 1983, the 31 most popular shows have all been Super Bowls. The 2016 presidential debates came in at #32. The Super Bowls have been broadcast on both FOX and the traditional news channels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_television_broadcasts_in_the_United_States

The FOX network started on October 8, 1996.

Fox News ended 2020 as the most-watched network in cable news history. However, in January 2021, after the U.S. Capitol attack, it was less watched than CNN and MSNBC for three straight days, which had not happened since September 2000.

In August 2021, Fox required compulsory reporting of COVID-19 vaccination status from employees, despite prominent Fox personalities Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity being opposed to revealing COVID-19 vaccination statuses.^[

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Fox_News

Since FOX is consistently the most watched cable network, are its anchors considered to be trustworthy?

According to at least one survey, the answer is “no”.

Sean Hannity is considered the LEAST trustworthy news anchor. Tucker Carlson also does not rate highly in this category either – but neither does Rachel Maddow.

Sean Hannity attended Sacred Heart Seminary in Hempstead, New York and St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary in Uniondale, New York. He attended New York University and Adelphi University, but did not graduate from either.

Tucker Carlson was briefly enrolled at Collège du Léman, a boarding school in Switzerland, but says he was "kicked out". He attained his secondary education at St. George's School, a boarding school in Middletown, Rhode Island, where he started dating his future wife, Susan Andrews, the headmaster's daughter. He then went to Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, graduating in 1991 with a BA in history. During his recent defamation lawsuit, his lawyers argued that “the "'general tenor' of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary.' ".

Rachel Maddow earned a degree in public policy at Stanford in 1994. At graduation, she was awarded the John Gardner Fellowship. She was the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship and began her postgraduate study in 1995 at Lincoln College, Oxford. She had also been awarded a Marshall Scholarship the same year but turned it down in favor of the Rhodes. This made her the first openly lesbian winner of the Rhodes Scholarship. In 2001, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in politics at the University of Oxford. Her thesis is titled HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons; her supervisor was Lucia Zedner.

She was nominated for two Grammy awards, and won one (for “best spoken word album" for her book, “Blowout”.)

Of the three anchors mentioned, who do you think is the most credible?

https://www.icepop.com/most-least-trusted-news-anchors-television/

Up until recently, the most credible anchor for FOX was Chris Wallace, who helped the network earn the ONE Emmy award that FOX had earned in its entire history.

He just joined CNN.

Both Bill O’Reilly and Roger Aisles were forced to resign due to allegations of sexual impropriety, and   former news director named Jack Hanick was just indicted for helping Russian launch a propaganda network.

https://news.yahoo.com/former-fox-news-producer-sean-210134835.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

If you went forward a few years, who was the most trusted man in America 10 years ago?

Jon Stewart, the anchor for Comedy Central.

 https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2011/10/

If you think it’s odd that a comedian could give serious comments about politics, consider these facts:

Al Franken was a regular on Saturday Night Live.

In 2008 he was elected as a senator from the state of Minnesota, and he served in that position until 2018. During his term in the senate, he proved to be a very competent lawmaker.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Franken

Then, of course, there’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy grew up as a native Russian speaker in Kryvyi Rih, a major city in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of central Ukraine. Prior to his acting career, he obtained a degree in law from the Kyiv National Economic University. He then pursued comedy and created the production company Kvartal 95, which produces films, cartoons, and TV shows including Servant of the People (TV series), in which Zelenskyy played the role of president of Ukraine. The series aired from 2015 to 2019 and was immensely popular. A political party bearing the same name as the television show was created in March 2018 by employees of Kvartal 95.

 Lately, he has been defiant in his resistance to Vladimir Putin’s invasion, and could serve as a model for one of Tom Petty’s best-known songs:

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - I Won't Back Down (Official Music Video) - YouTube

It’s still to soon to know how the conflict in Ukraine will turn out, but the sanctions that have been imposed on key members of Russia society will lead to a resounding defeat for the Russian bear – and a victory for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people.

And that’s the way it is.

 Bruce Hornsby & The Range - The Way It Is (Official Video) - YouTube