memorials - Gawker

posts about #memorials more →
Morley Safer —
Tributes to Walter Cronkite
How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
Dash Snow's Basquiat-ization
The Michael Jackson Memorial Clusterfuck
Michael Jackson's Memorial Service: Free Online Tickets, "Broadcast Live Around The World"
No Gypsies, Tramps, Thieves Allowed at Brooklyn Holocaust Memorial
Sickos Derive Pleasure From Public Sex; Police Baffled
Tim Russert, Remembered
Liz Smith Is Not Going To London For This Tacky Memorial

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CaptainFantastic
10/19/09

In reply to Morley Safer —
Does this mean that Morley has taken acid? Wild stuff. #morleysafer
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adiam7
10/19/09

In reply to Morley Safer —
I wish Don Hewitt would have swung past the Orthodox Church and done something about the relentless and continual appeal to the heavens that is eternal. #morleysafer
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snugbug
10/19/09

In reply to Morley Safer —
..At which moment during the eulogy Don Hewitt's voice thunders from heavens: "It's "gnat," not "fruit fly," you verbose bastard!"
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Edited by snugbug at 10/19/09 9:15 PM snugbug was starred snugbug was unstarred

miss_msry
10/19/09

In reply to Morley Safer —
Do fruit flies live long enough for the acid to kick in?

Aside from that, if anyone would know about fruit flies on acid, it would be Morley. #morleysafer
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sarrible
10/19/09

In reply to Morley Safer —
So why did 60 Minutes have to be a whole hour long? #morleysafer
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lionel-mandrake
10/19/09

In reply to Morley Safer —
I hate this turn of phrase, "x, was like y, 'on acid'", as most people misapply the the metaphor. For example, "a fruit fly on acid" kind of cancels itself out, rendering the comparison meaningless. But I guess it makes the Olds feel like they're still with it, man. #morleysafer
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Mike Jahn
10/19/09

In reply to Morley Safer —
The Lord's Prayer, cut to the sub-Twitter level -- "Thank God." #morleysafer
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miss_msry
10/19/09

@Mike Jahn

No, it would just be "Amen." Or total disregard. #morleysafer
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Unsolicited Advice
09/09/09

In reply to Tributes to Walter Cronkite
The sad part is, there aren't even big shoes to fill. This era is ending without replacement, and the kids aren't coming up from behind.
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The Recession Is Over
07/20/09

In reply to How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
They're going to do a Staples Memorial for him too, right?
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Edited by The Recession Is Over at 07/20/09 9:57 AM

krismry
07/18/09

In reply to How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
mr. krismry's dad gets a sub to the weekly standard, and jeepers, they sure are cynics over there! Joseph Epstein in the July 20 number wrote that cronkite could chiefly be trusted never to say anything unpredictable or piled on with platitudes. Then mr. Epstein twisted the knife! He wrote that Cronk's tagline, 'and that's the way it is,' was a version of reality that wasn't the way it was at all. He didn't have a clue about the way it really was.

I was amazed and astounded that anyone else thought this way too!
Besides me.
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Anthony De Rosa
07/18/09

In reply to How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
I think Abrams hit the nail right on the head. It's not about me, you or Abrams, but sadly that's what the state of journalism has become.
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Edited by Anthony De Rosa at 07/18/09 5:35 PM Anthony De Rosa was starred Anthony De Rosa was unstarred

Foster Kamer
07/18/09

@Soup: Feh. We can call it sad or depressing or whatever, but it is what it is, and to mourn the golden age when only four guys gave you the news is simply ridiculous. I'm glad I can choose between the lesser of howevermany shadeballs (in our case: two).
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Edited by Foster Kamer at 07/18/09 5:41 PM Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred

Anthony De Rosa
07/18/09

@Foster Kamer:

Quantity over quality? I'll trade two dozen of the slime balls we have now for one Cronkite. I've been having trouble for nearly 24 hours trying to think of one that even comes close.
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Foster Kamer
07/18/09

@Soup: Woah. Let's not canonize him just yet. Cronkite did different things, served a different purpose. Also, people were less shameless. If Cronkite knew Glenn Beck would be crying on TV in fits of bi-polar rage while Jim Cramer manipulated the market based on the results of his kids' soccer games, he might've given up the whole racket and said "fuckit." It's less that he doesn't exist than the fact that his role doesn't exist.
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skahammer
07/18/09

@Soup: If you're talking about newsreaders, I'm liking Jon Stewart pretty well.
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Anthony De Rosa
07/18/09

@Foster Kamer:

So you're saying we should be resigned to accept mediocrity because we've lowered the bar since the days when Cronkite ruled the roost?

I don't think the current state of journalism prevents someone who aspires to hold themselves to the standards Cronkite stood for.

In fact, it would be a breath of fresh air, standing out amongst so much pollution.
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Anthony De Rosa
07/18/09

@skahammer:

I've heard his name thrown out there before in this type of conversation in other places, but as much as I love Stewart, he's not of the same mold. There is nothing wrong with Stewart because he's not a journalist in the purist sense and doesn't pretend to be. He's left leaning and has an agenda.

Other than when Cronkite pretty much declared the Vietnam war lost, he kept himself outside of the news and simply reported it like a journalist is supposed to do.
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Edited by Anthony De Rosa at 07/18/09 6:06 PM Anthony De Rosa was starred Anthony De Rosa was unstarred

Foster Kamer
07/18/09

@Soup: Right, and there's too much projecting by outside forces for anybody to do that in a bubble. On the same token, newsreaders don't sell advertising anymore. It's our fault they don't exist. Would I want one? Yeah. Would I watch it? Probably not. Don't have the time. Do you?
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Anthony De Rosa
07/18/09

@Foster Kamer: Hell fucking yes. I need less news opinion in my life and more straight up newsreading. That's a more efficient use of my time. Modern 'news' producers have their heads so far up their own asses that they think people want to be told what their opinions on the news should be. Is there a market for news commentary? Of course, but that's nearly the only thing we have to choose from.

I think there is a market for treating people like adults and they'll pay you to cut through the bullshit.
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Edited by Anthony De Rosa at 07/18/09 6:29 PM Anthony De Rosa was starred Anthony De Rosa was unstarred

Foster Kamer
07/18/09

@Soup: There is. It's a niche one.
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Edited by Foster Kamer at 07/18/09 7:02 PM Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred

minou
07/18/09

@Soup: This discussion between you guys here is cool to observe and I don't really have the knowledge of journalism necessary to get involved, except to wonder if Cronkite's break in composure while reading the news of Kennedy's death didn't change what it meant to "simply report" news "like a journalist is supposed to do" by shifting the standard of reporting -- almost imperceptibly, yet crucially -- toward a more personal discursive inflection? And wouldn't that register as a moment of -- I hate this phrase but whatever -- paradigm shift that should figure in this analysis?
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momo
07/18/09

@Soup: It's weird because I agree with your opinion, but since you work for Abrams, it just seems either self-promotional or ass-kissy. It's a lack of self-awareness that seems to pervade the Mediaite folk from what I can see.
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Anthony De Rosa
07/19/09

@momo: I'm a freelancer, I do not work for Abrams or Mediaite.
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RachelSklar
07/18/09

In reply to How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
Thanks for linking Feld's post - it's one of my favorites. That dude consistently amazes me. As for the sand-kicking, we'll try to do better!
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Foster Kamer
07/18/09

@RachelSklar: We know you can!
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SarahHeartburn
07/18/09

In reply to How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
In early 2002 I was teaching an English class in Madrid to young unemployed professionals (a special class sponsored by the Ministry of Labor). I showed them a clip of Cronkite talking to...I think Christianne Amanpour(? it was taped from tv). He was erudite and apoplectic at the same time going off on the how Bush and Cheney were controlling press access to the war in Afghanistan. He talked about how it was to be a war correspondent in WWII, and not in any old fart "in my day" line but really, and mournfully, lamenting the kidnapping of free speech by the Bush government. He kept saying something like...."They're stealing our history" . It was obvious that he was frail and it was a bit of an effort for him to be there, but he spoke well and movingly. This was less than 6 months after 9/11 and my students were really impressed. It gave them a sense that not everyone in the states was buying the Republican Homeland Security paranoia. When I told them that it was Cronkite who announced JFK's death, and covered the moon landing, they all immediately knew who he was. And these were people in their mid-late 20's at the time.
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skahammer
07/19/09

@SarahHeartburn: Nifty story, Sarah.
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Airvault
07/18/09

In reply to How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
How fucking delirious it all is. At once you just want to toss it all aside and say "Who gives a shit?" But then you're reminded that this is the way the world works now. The world revolves around every single person separately and now the naricisists have that pale, forsaken echo of life following them around. Plop plop, fizz fizz. None if it matters.
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skahammer
07/18/09

@Airvault: I think your beef might be with something slightly closer to home than the nightly news, here.
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watertiger
07/18/09

In reply to How Did The President, Famous People, New Media React To Cronkite's Death?
Compare this to the months-long orgy of weeping and mantle-renting when Timmeh "Everything is Off the Record" Russert kicked it.

Not half the newsman Cronkite was.
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Helio
07/18/09

@watertiger: yes, but like someone said earlier, a sudden death (at work, no less) hits harder than one that was inevitable.
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lobstr
07/18/09

@watertiger: Yes, but will Cronkite have a highway in Buffalo named after him?? Pros and cons, my friend!
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DahlELama
07/19/09

@Helio: Exactly--Cronkite is 92; people have been talking about how awesome he is for years, not to mention the posts and articles paying tribute to him when word first came out that he was likely terminally ill. When someone dies suddenly, you haven't had your chance to gather all of your thoughts about them and articulate why they made such an impression, and you end up with a new article every time some journalist or blogger suddenly remembers that time they bumped into them at an airport carousel and received three words of wisdom.
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