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Walter Cronkite’s WWII Letters Home in New Book

Posted on 05/15/2013 by | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | Home & FamilyBefore he was the voice of his generation and “the most trusted man in America,” Walter Cronkite was a 20-something war correspondent writing letters home to his new wife. Now his namesake and grandson, Walter Cronkite IV, has complied the letters in a book, Cronkite’s War: His World War II Letters Home. The grandson, a recent college graduate, is working in Washington these days at, of course, CBS News. That’s where Cronkite, who died in 2009, anchored the evening news after …

Are You Giving Up on the News?

Posted on 03/19/2013 by | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin Today | Politics | Technology | Your LifeThey were our heroes. Woodward and Bernstein brought down a president. The New York Times published “The Pentagon Papers” in the face of government resistance to revealing damaging truths. “Uncle” Walter Cronkite spoke for many Americans when he concluded that the Vietnam War was not winnable. Many in our generation saw the news media as a positive force in society, driving out secrecy and corruption with the “disinfecting” light of information. Today, as a recent AARP poll shows, journalists have …

Poll: Half of Americans Prefer TV News; Older Adults Pay Closest Attention

Posted on 10/10/2012 by | Brooklyn, NY | Comments

News RoundupsTelevision is still the preferred news source for half of Americans, though it may not retain its dominance for long. While about 60 percent of older adults prefer TV news, just 34 percent of 18 to 35-year-olds say it’s their top choice, with 55 percent of this younger cohort preferring Internet news sources. And that’s far from the only generational difference in news preferences and interest. According to a recent Harris Interactive poll, the age groups differ not only in their preferred news sources but in the ways they consume and pay attention to news, as well.

Stepping into My Own Prime Time

Posted on 10/2/2012 by | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthFor years I was a sitcom writer; my shows were always in prime time. I have been writing voices for Designing Women, Family Ties, Kate and Allie.  Yup, that’s me – except not really. They have been what Julia Sugarbaker would assert on her soapbox, what Alex Keaton would wisecrack to his way-too-liberal parents, what Kate would say supportively to Allie. I would give them lines, but they were never my voice. That’s the trick to writing for others on TV: you write …

Lessons from the Bullying Video That Went Viral

Posted on 06/22/2012 by | AARP Blog Author | Comments

News RoundupsThe following is a guest post from Bill Hogan, a writer and editor on the AARP Media News team. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” How many of us had to say that in “repeat-after-me” drills when we were growing up? I don’t know about you, but I never really believed it. Words can hurt. Millions of us could see that in the video-gone-viral of Karen Huff Klein, a 68-year-old school bus monitor …

Remembering: Mike Wallace, 93

Posted on 04/8/2012 by | General News | Comments

EntertainmentMike Wallace was an institution in the news industry. He interviewed presidents, singers, mobsters and civil rights heroes. He needled them with a sophisticated coolness that only Wallace could. He infuriated some, charmed others and educated us all when we watched his interviews. CBS News’ eulogy for Wallace points out that “when Wallace was born in 1918 there wasn’t even a radio in most American homes, much less a TV.” For 65 years of being in front of the camera, …

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