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I remember the day that news broadcasts started to become opinion broadcasts.
It was Feb. 27, 1968.
At the end of his CBS Evening News broadcast, the respected and revered Walter Cronkite stepped away from journalism's standard of five Ws + H and proffered his opinion of the Vietnam War.
While views differ on the effect of his opinion, one thing is certain -- broadcasting and journalism were changed forever.
Prior to that night, going back to the writings of Aristotle, investigative inquiry was based on the five Ws + H: the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of an event or incident.
That's how journalists were taught to approach their craft in high schools and colleges.
News was, and is, defined as -- "information about recent events, especially as reported by means of newspapers, websites, radio, television, and other forms of media."
Broadcasting and journalism gained its credibility from adherence to Aristotle's insights. No one exemplified that better than Cronkite.
That night, Cronkite ventured into the world of opinion. Before that, opinion was a separate activity of broadcasters and journalists.
Clear demarcations existed.
Newspapers have long had opinion pages -- and letters to the editor for readers to share theirs.
Broadcasters clearly delineated their opinion segments from news segments. But through it all, news was news and deference was given to the five Ws + H.
Subsequently, broadcasting and journalism at the national level has evolved (devolved, in my view) into opinion centers.
The major broadcasting and cable networks rarely use the five W's +H anymore, but instead go right to opinions.
This conflation of news and opinion is so ubiquitous that it could cause Aristotle to proverbially roll over in his grave.
The development of social media has been, on balance, a boon to society.
Easier and less costly communication between families, friends and associates benefits all.
This benefit, unfortunately, still comes at a significant social cost. Civility has declined.
As a youngster, I recall being taught to respectfully listen to the opinions of others and not interrupt them as they spoke. Besides, I might learn something I didn't know.
We were cautioned to be careful about introducing politics and religion into conversations since differences might be taken personally.
We learned to carefully consider our thoughts before expressing them so as not to provoke anger or bad feelings.
The means of communication matters, too.
Speaking about differences in person is uncomfortable. Sharing differences via telephone is less so.
Writing to another is even less uncomfortable. Least uncomfortable is anonymous comment. Anonymity hides authorship and accountability.
Sadly, social media provides easy access to anonymity.
The decline in civility is clearly demonstrated in the ubiquitous ad hominem attacks unleashed on all platforms.
Our society would be well served with the resuscitation of news and civility to all media platforms.
Chris Gable is a regular contributor to the Mirror's Opinion page. He resides in Altoona.