Signing Off

Each news anchor has a distinct way of ending his or her news broadcasts. Just picture Ron Burgundy’s “Stay classy, San Diego” (and Veronica Corningstone’s competing “Thanks for stopping by”) if you’re unsure of what I’m talking about. Here are three famous CBS news anchors and their well-known ways of saying goodnight to the American public.

1. Walter Cronkite – “And that’s the way it is”

Cronkite was the anchor of The CBS Evening News from 1962-1981. Most viewer opinion polls during the 70s and 80s referred to him as the “Most Trusted Man in America.” He ended his news segments with “And that’s the way it is,” followed by the date, every night.

2. Dan Rather – “That’s part of our world tonight”

Rather succeeded Cronkite as anchor and managing editor of The CBS Evening News in 1981. Rather had a different style of reporting the news than Cronkite, and for a while, he searched to find a suitable sign-off. For a week or so during the mid-1980s, he ended his broadcasts with the word “courage,” which he was mocked for. Eventually, he began using the phrase “And that’s part of our world tonight,” which stuck for nearly two decades.

3. Edward R. Murrow – “Good night, and good luck”

Murrow was an American journalist who achieved celebrity status as a result of his war reports during World War II. In 1940, during German’s bombing raids, Londoners who normally ended their conversations with “so long” began saying “so long, and good luck.” At the end of the year, future British monarch Princess Elizabeth ended her live radio address with “good night, and good luck to you all.”

So, at the end of one of his own broadcasts, Murrow ended his segment with “Good night, and good luck.” This soon became Murrow’s catch phrase, and has recently gained fame in the 2005 Oscar-nominated film Good Night, and Good Luck. The phrase has also been used by MSNBC’s anchor Keith Olbermann on his nightly news program, Countdown.