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In March 1967, the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA) called its first nationwide strike. Although almost all programming on the national television networks ceased production, the evening newscasts continued to be broadcast. NBC's Chet Huntley crossed the picket line, calling AFTRA a union "dominated by announcers, entertainers, and singers." His partner, David Brinkley, refused to work, and CBS' Walter Cronkite also supported the union. The strike represents a pivotal yet often overlooked moment in broadcast journalism history. It created the perception of tension between Huntley and Brinkley that would play a role in the "CBS Evening News" surpassing the "Huntley-Brinkley Report" as the nation's most highly-rated evening news broadcast in 1967-68.
On the evening of March 29, 1967, most of the approximately 10 million regular viewers of the "CBS Evening News" probably were surprised at seeing the unfamiliar face of a twenty-nine year old CBS corporate executive peering out from the screen. Ernest Leiser, the executive producer of the "CBS Evening News," had spent that afternoon auditioning several members of the CBS News management team to fill the anchor's chair. Each took a turn reading a four-minute script in the brightly lit studio. None matched the delivery or screen presence of Arnold Zenker, the program manager for CBS News, who earlier that same morning had delivered the morning news over the CBS-TV network. Leiser called Zenker at home and told him to report back to the studio, and a few hours later he began reading the day's top stories to the national television audience. Nowhere in that evening's script did he mention the fact that the program's regular anchorman-Walter Cronkite-was out on strike. When the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) called a strike against the networks that morning, he immediately supported the union and walked out.1
The idea of a celebrity television news anchor participating in a labor action seems absurd today. Even in 1967, the notion of broadcasters earning more than $100,000 a year striking against their management was considered strange at best, laughable at worst. As U.S. News and World Report noted, "never had the country seen anything quite like it."2 Although the era of the celebrity journalist had yet to fully bloom, viewers and critics...