Famed historian and educator Douglas Brinkley, Ph.D., spoke to Ohio Wesleyan students, as well as Delaware city residents last Thursday as this year’s guest speaker for the John Kennard Eddy Memorial Lecture Series.
Brinkley spoke about his latest book, Cronkite, which details the life of Walter Cronkite, the broadcast journalist dubbed by many as “the most trusted man in America.”
Brinkley also discussed the rise of Cronkite’s career, which started with radio and moved into television.
Cronkite’s influence also extended to the public’s opinion on controversial topics, such as the inception of NASA and the Vietnam War.
Following the lecture, Brinkley answered questions from the audience, mediated by Politics & Government professor, Sean Kay.
Some of the questions ranged from, “Which news source does [Brinkley] believe to be the most honest and accurate,” to questions on the 24 hour news cycle, which, according to Brinkley, started with CNN in the early 1980s.
Brinkley also said the news source he trusted the most is the Associated Press.
Junior Avery Winston said he thought it was a very good, informative talk.
“I liked how he used Walter Cronkite to talk about decades of American history,” said Winston.
The John Kennard Eddy Memorial Lecture on World Politics, was founded by OWU student John K. Eddy’s parents after their son was killed in a car crash in 1988.