For a generation of television viewers, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw all performed a function that had become part of the American culture -
TV anchors the audiences could depend on being there in times of trouble. It was a role Walter Cronkite invented in 1963. Aaron Brown explained to the 'Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' in 2002, "The great, lasting image of Mr. Cronkite is that he takes off his glasses to tell us that the President (John F. Kennedy) has died, these great, black, horn-rimmed glasses, and wipes away a tear. What he did was help us all cry. He was inventing television at that moment."
Speaking to United Press International in 1986, Dan Rather admitted, "I'm not a natural anchorperson. God did not put me on this earth to be an anchor. God put me here to be a reporter." As a replacement for the retiring "Uncle Walter" (one of the most trusted men in America) in 1981, Dan Rather disclosed, "There is pressure. There was pressure. There still is pressure. Some think being an anchor is as easy as falling off a log. I think it's closer to falling off a cliff."
However by 1986 the American public had generally accepted Dan Rather as anchor of CBS News. Countless polls in 1986 ranked Dan Rather more believable than President Reagan and more trustworthy than Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings. Although it was noted the Harris Poll in 1994 (some 8 years later) found respondents preferred Peter Jennings by 30%, Tom Brokaw by 29% and Dan Rather was at 24%.
Dan Rather maintained, "If you win anything for five years straight (1981-1985), I think you have some justification to pause. Every broadcast has to be a headline service, plus. We only have 21 minutes. We're (at CBS) all news. We're a hard news outfit. But headlines are no longer enough. We also have to have the plus." At one time Peter Jennings conceded, "To our peril … we in TV are obliged to get out the facts too quickly at the expense of context. They want us in Cairo on Tuesday and Calcutta on Wednesday."
In January 1988, George Bush described Dan Rather's "persistent questioning in a spirited interview" was "kind of like combat". Campaigning in Wyoming, the then Vice President was rattled when during the nine minutes live interview, Dan Rather kept pressing George Bush on his role in the Iran-Contra affair. George Bush later claimed he had been misled about the subject of the interview.
Dan Rather told viewers the next night, "The fact that more attention is sometimes given to the heat than the light is regrettable … Interviews such as the one last night are in some ways uncomfortable, for the questioner, for the subject and for some viewers. We understand that and only hope for mutual understanding that it is an essential part of our democratic process for choosing our presidents."
Van Gordon Sauter insisted, "We're (the three networks news) not selling the same thing. The anchors are different, as are the broadcast environments. The differences are also illustrated by the reporters on the key beats, all of whom bring their own styles to their work. While the three networks cover the same stories during the initial five or six minutes, they then begin to go their own way, use their subjective, visceral standards as to the major stories."
David Brinkley had been credited for setting the standard for network television for generations. Roger Mudd believed, "He brought a level of political sophistication and literary craftsmanship and a lively sense of humor that television had never known before and that hasn't been equaled since." Jeff Greenfield added, "David Brinkley created a whole generation of political junkies."
David Brinkley once said, "As long as I've known anything about politics, I've been skeptical. And it has evolved. The more I saw, the more skeptical I became." David Brinkley was also among the last of a generation of reporters (which included Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor) who got their basic training at newspapers and wire services then made their name in the new medium of television.
Dan Rather maintained, "If you win anything for five years straight (1981-1985), I think you have some justification to pause. Every broadcast has to be a headline service, plus. We only have 21 minutes. We're (at CBS) all news. We're a hard news outfit. But headlines are no longer enough. We also have to have the plus." At one time Peter Jennings conceded, "To our peril … we in TV are obliged to get out the facts too quickly at the expense of context. They want us in Cairo on Tuesday and Calcutta on Wednesday."
In January 1988, George Bush described Dan Rather's "persistent questioning in a spirited interview" was "kind of like combat". Campaigning in Wyoming, the then Vice President was rattled when during the nine minutes live interview, Dan Rather kept pressing George Bush on his role in the Iran-Contra affair. George Bush later claimed he had been misled about the subject of the interview.
Dan Rather told viewers the next night, "The fact that more attention is sometimes given to the heat than the light is regrettable … Interviews such as the one last night are in some ways uncomfortable, for the questioner, for the subject and for some viewers. We understand that and only hope for mutual understanding that it is an essential part of our democratic process for choosing our presidents."
Van Gordon Sauter insisted, "We're (the three networks news) not selling the same thing. The anchors are different, as are the broadcast environments. The differences are also illustrated by the reporters on the key beats, all of whom bring their own styles to their work. While the three networks cover the same stories during the initial five or six minutes, they then begin to go their own way, use their subjective, visceral standards as to the major stories."
David Brinkley had been credited for setting the standard for network television for generations. Roger Mudd believed, "He brought a level of political sophistication and literary craftsmanship and a lively sense of humor that television had never known before and that hasn't been equaled since." Jeff Greenfield added, "David Brinkley created a whole generation of political junkies."
David Brinkley once said, "As long as I've known anything about politics, I've been skeptical. And it has evolved. The more I saw, the more skeptical I became." David Brinkley was also among the last of a generation of reporters (which included Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor) who got their basic training at newspapers and wire services then made their name in the new medium of television.
Patrick Goldstein of 'The Los Angeles Times' reported in 2002, "Hollywood which, despite its focus on youthful audiences, has traditionally been the medium slowest to react to sociological change. When it comes to global reach, the action movie is Hollywood's most potent cultural export. Films such as 'A Beautiful Mind' win Academy Awards, but movies such as 'Jurassic Park' and 'Terminator 2' reach the biggest worldwide audience, their explosions and special effects translating an adrenaline-driven storyline into any language or culture.
"Throughout the years, the action hero has serviced as perhaps the most accurate barometer of America's cultural preoccupations. John Wayne was a symbol of American heroism and sense of purpose. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, the action heroes of the 1960s, captured the decades's free-spirited distrust of authority. In the 1970s, Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry symbolized the era's focus on crime and a loss of ideals.
"In the mid-1980s, Sly Stallone's 'Rambo' and Tom Cruise's 'Top Gun' captured the jingoism of the stand-tall Reagan Era, while action series such as '48 Hrs.' and 'Lethal Weapon' used the conflicts sparked by their black and white co-stars to comment on the country's own continuing racial divisions. It is hardly a secret that today's (in 2002) youthful moviegoers are far more colorblind than any previous generation.
"For older America, the voices of cultural authority largely remain white, whether it's news anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw, comics Jay Leno and David Letterman or morning personalities such as Katie Couric and Regis Philbin. Young America has its own heroes. Thanks to the influence of hip-hop, MTV, comedy and professional sports, they have a wide multicultural array of icons, running the gamut.
"Until now (in 2002), Hollywood has been slow to catch the multicultural wave. Progress has been slowed by business disincentives. Movies with Latino or black stars have trouble selling overseas, which now represents the biggest chunk of the movie marketplace. In 2001, 'Rush Hour 2' outgrossed 'Jurassic Park III' in the United States by $45 million, but overseas 'Jurassic' made nearly $100 million more at the box office than the Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan-starring action comedy.
"These dismal overseas numbers could be changing, in part thanks to more aggressive marketing strategies … Hollywood still has a long way to go … but if the action hero is the ultimate embodiment of our pop fantasies, the ascendancy of The Rock, or Dwayne Johnson (of black and Samoan heritage) and Vin Diesel (black and Italian descent) signals a potent cultural breakthrough."
"Throughout the years, the action hero has serviced as perhaps the most accurate barometer of America's cultural preoccupations. John Wayne was a symbol of American heroism and sense of purpose. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, the action heroes of the 1960s, captured the decades's free-spirited distrust of authority. In the 1970s, Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry symbolized the era's focus on crime and a loss of ideals.
"In the mid-1980s, Sly Stallone's 'Rambo' and Tom Cruise's 'Top Gun' captured the jingoism of the stand-tall Reagan Era, while action series such as '48 Hrs.' and 'Lethal Weapon' used the conflicts sparked by their black and white co-stars to comment on the country's own continuing racial divisions. It is hardly a secret that today's (in 2002) youthful moviegoers are far more colorblind than any previous generation.
"For older America, the voices of cultural authority largely remain white, whether it's news anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw, comics Jay Leno and David Letterman or morning personalities such as Katie Couric and Regis Philbin. Young America has its own heroes. Thanks to the influence of hip-hop, MTV, comedy and professional sports, they have a wide multicultural array of icons, running the gamut.
"Until now (in 2002), Hollywood has been slow to catch the multicultural wave. Progress has been slowed by business disincentives. Movies with Latino or black stars have trouble selling overseas, which now represents the biggest chunk of the movie marketplace. In 2001, 'Rush Hour 2' outgrossed 'Jurassic Park III' in the United States by $45 million, but overseas 'Jurassic' made nearly $100 million more at the box office than the Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan-starring action comedy.
"These dismal overseas numbers could be changing, in part thanks to more aggressive marketing strategies … Hollywood still has a long way to go … but if the action hero is the ultimate embodiment of our pop fantasies, the ascendancy of The Rock, or Dwayne Johnson (of black and Samoan heritage) and Vin Diesel (black and Italian descent) signals a potent cultural breakthrough."
