Arnold Zenker Arnold Zenker Arnold L. Zenker (born 1938) is a retired media broadcaster and public appearance counselor who gained brief stardom by sitting in for Walter Cronkite on the "CBS Evening News" in 1967. Zenker studied at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, from which he received an undergraduate and a law degree. In 1967 at the age of 28, he was asked to sit in for anchor Walter Cronkite to deliver the nightly news. Zenker, working as a Manager of News Programming at CBS at the time, was chosen because a strike by the American Federation of Television and Radio
Walter Cronkite KTBC-TV in Austin, Texas, which was affiliated with CBS at the time and was owned by the Johnson family. During the conversation the production staff cut away from the report back to the live camera in studio as Cronkite was still on the phone. After he was made aware that he was back on camera, Cronkite held up a finger to let everyone watching know he required a moment to let Johnson finish talking. Once Cronkite got what he needed, he thanked Johnson and asked him to stay on the line. He then turned to the camera and began to