Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Telecommunication in honor of the veteran news reporter. At the same time, the Walter Cronkite Award for Journalism Excellence was established. In 1989, a professional news program produced by the school's students began production, and later evolved into the well-known Cronkite NewsWatch TV news program. In 2001, the school voted to change its name to Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The school received independent school status in 2004. It chose Christopher Callahan as its founding dean in 2005. A year later, the school established the Cronkite News Service for advanced journalism students to distribute TV and
Walter Cronkite unsure about how much of an impact his editorial report had on Johnson's decision to drop his bid for re-election, and what eventually convinced him that the President had made the statement was Bill Moyers, fellow journalist and former aide to Johnson, telling him "The president flipped off the set and said 'If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.'" Several weeks later, Johnson, who sought to preserve his legacy and was now convinced his declining health could not withstand growing public criticism, announced he would not seek reelection. During the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Cronkite was anchoring