I wanted to be Walter Cronkite. So did other broadcast journalism majors in the late 1960s. Known as the most trusted man in America, “Uncle Walter,” as we affectionately called him, was the gold standard in broadcast news, with his rich baritone and his signature tag line, “And that’s the way it is …” followed by the day’s date.

As the anchor for the “CBS Evening News” from 1962 to 1981, Cronkite became synonymous with serious, independent journalism, practiced with ethics and integrity. Somewhere in the intervening years I took the off ramp to newspapers, but Cronkite continued to inspire and influence me and surely other journalists tasked with bringing Americans news and information.

My guess is he would be stunned at what is happening at CBS News, specifically the implosion at its crown jewel, “60 Minutes.” That ruckus is the result of a new owner and a new leadership team apparently willing to carry water for a meddling federal government — all under the guise of remaking broadcast TV’s most-watched program for the last 50 years.

Cronkite helped solidify CBS as a news programming benchmark, from Edward R. Morrow’s, “See It Now,” with his famous defiance of Senator Joe McCarthy Communist witch hunting to “CBS Reports” and its Peabody Award-winning “Harvest of Shame,” which detailed the plight of migrant farm workers toiling in American fields in 1960. Yes, 1960. We obviously still haven’t got that right.

Neither Cronkite’s legacy nor CBS News’s history is enough, however, to prevent the approaching death of “60 Minutes.”

Aside from popularity, “60 Minutes” thrives on excellence. Since its inception in 1968, the program has won 146 Emmys, 25 Peabodys for excellence in storytelling and 18 Alfred duPont Columbia University Awards, the equivalent of a Pulitzer in broadcasting.

Despite such quality, the end seems near. Something called “60 Minutes” may appear on your screen, but a tinkered and tattered version will pale in comparison given what has happened.

Since Skydance started signing paychecks after a merger gave it ownership of CBS News, the executive editor and a correspondent have left “60 Minutes,” and three of the show’s correspondents and a producer have been fired, the most recent jettisoning being that of veteran journalist Scott Pelley, given the hook for telling his bosses in a staff meeting they were “murdering ‘60 Minutes.’” Pelley and other former correspondents on the show have also reported interference and pressure to inject political bias into the show’s reports.

One could draw a bright line from the “60 Minutes” implosion and the White House’s ongoing criticism of CBS News. The current administration, claiming bias, sued the network over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. Rather than defend its work, CBS chose to pony up $17 million and agree to the FCC installing an overseer to make sure CBS News was not practicing something called “ideological bias.” At the time, Skydance was negotiating to buy Paramount, which included CBS. After that successful merger and a new editor-in-chief arrived at CBS News, the axes started to fall at “60 Minutes.”

Arguing the program needed a reboot — the rationale given for bringing on a new producer and jettisoning several veteran reporters — ignores its ratings increase last year.

Despite its excellence, “60 Minutes” occasionally got it wrong. But when it did, the show and its principals owned it. In 2004 the program aired a story on then-president George W. Bush’s National Guard service using apparently forged documents. After apologizing on air, Dan Rather left his job as anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” where he had taken over for Cronkite 24 years earlier. Four other staffers were fired. In 2013 the show also apologized for a report based on a bogus source about the attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound at Benghazi, Libya.

Aside from us news junkies, any upheaval in broadcast television news might induce yawning. The entire industry continues to struggle against a sea of online options for news and information consumers. Major news networks compete not simply for market share but also for relevance.

Yes, the news and information world has changed, so “60 Minutes” may be a dinosaur to some. But ratings and clicks are only metrics. If we watch, read or listen to the news from headlines to in-depth reporting and yes, even commentaries, we should remember that ethics and principles, ala Walter Cronkite, are always relevant.

Here’s one reason why: More and more lawmakers and leaders now dissemble facts for the sake of expediency, making it harder and harder for consumers to recognize the truth. Such calculus has devastating results, not the least of which is a difficulty creating and sustaining a wholly-informed electorate.

“And that’s the way it is.” Too bad.