Walter Cronkite may not have been seen as a star, but he certainly filled that role back in the day. In fact, it was his reputation as "America's most trusted newsman" that lead me to study journalism as an undergraduate.
I took one journalism class. Enough to learn the basics. Who, what, where, when, why etc. And the editor expected/demanded verification of sources and of the facts themselves. And finally no bias. Woodward and Bernstein, "All the President's Men," etc. But there were just three main TV networks, following much the same rules. Essentially the same went for press news, dominated by major city papers, and news agencies (AP, UPI, etc.)
Many conservatives were pleased when Trump put the media in their places, over bias. But they later were unhappy when he reaped the benefit of having done so.
