Social Media Says Goodbye To A Voice Of Reason

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kidd was in a state of shock today when he was asked to speak about Walter Cronkite and what he meant to a nation. The kidd struggled with the right words that best described what this icon meant to so many.

He reminded us that millions of people wouldn’t believe that President Kennedy had been shot, or that men walked on the moon until they heard it from Walter Cronkite. Like our fictional Uncle Sam, Mr. Cronkite was the reliable friend of the family that you could count on to let you know ‘just the way things were.’

The kidd stated, “the authority and influence of this one man can not be repeated, particularly in the world of social media. Today, the passing of a president or a spaceship launch would be blasted out to the masses in a real-time tweet.”

However, Walter Conkrite’s death is a reminder that time marches on, and the explosive expansion of media was inevitable and necessary. This is progress. But what it lacks, according to the kidd is the “warmth, sincerity and calmness that comes from hearing breaking news delivered by a broadcaster you trust.”

While social media is user-generated and elicits a direct feed from the people, it does lack the heart-felt sentiment that came from a generation that had to grapple with a Depression, two World Wars and the fear of Communism. “That world mandated a need for larger than life figures to help America tread the uncertain waters of an uncertain time. Uncle Walter helped us do that. He was the gravel-voiced saviour of the airwaves,” noted the kidd.

Today, while the torrent of social media we are exposed to does reach the masses in a timely fashion, a lot of what we seek out on social networks is the echo-chamber of like-minded people. We want our world-view to be authenticated by our fans and followers, people that will put their stamp of approval on what we believe is right. We need the assurance that– ‘that’s the way it is.’ “The question is who do we rely on when its not?” reminded the kidd sadly.

Rest in peace Uncle Walter. You were our rock, our anchor. But today the grace of you needs to be broadcasted to a higher authority. You’ve earned the right to be heard on a higher plane.

Ron Callari is the Chief Executive Officer of iOptimize Marketing and a freelance journalist and editorial cartoonist whose work has appeared in Alternet, Counterpunch, Sacramento News & Review, Albion Monitor and the World and I. He is author of “Uncle Dubya’s Jihad Jamboree”, published in 2005, and the creator of kidd millennium’s editorial cartoons, www.kiddmillennium.com

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