Cronkite was Ted Baxter without the looks. Of course, Ted Baxter was patterned after Bill Kurtis who I’ve worked with on stories and who truly is clueless without the teleprompter or producer whispering in his earpiece.
Cronkite, Rather, and the rest told both lies they knew were lies and lies they assumed were true but never checked out. From their viewpoint the truth of a story was whether it conveyed the truth about the overall story and damn the details.
Thus if the overall truth is that war is hell, then it is irrelevant whether the details they report on any given day are true or not, just as long as they convey the overall truth that war is hell.
The situation I like the best is the Kent State Riots based on Cronkite, Rather, etal told everyone that Nixon-Kissinger had expanded the war into Cambodia and Laos. Of course, Kennedy had small forces in Laos and Johnson larger forces in both Laos and Cambodia (including my unit in Laos).
Cronkite, Rather, etal knew that they were reporting a lie in saying that Nixon-Kissinger expanded the war. Yet it served their agenda to create more awareness ... in places like Kent State ... of the need to oppose the war.
Ted Baxter!!??? Not in any sane universe. Cronkite was a lying mass murderer whose lies about the Tet Offensive demoralized American troops, energized the north Vietnamese and caused thousands of deaths. Tet was a significant victory for America that pushed the north to the brink of capitulation - until they heard his broadcast.
Ted Baxter was likeable and innocuous. Cronkite was a malicious POS vermin who has altered “journalism” into a mass propaganda machine.
The two are virtual polar opposites.