TV veteran Cronkite sued over ad

Walter Cronkite has a distinguished reporting background

US TV news veteran Walter Cronkite has been sued for $75,000 (£46,000) for backing out of a deal to film a TV ad.

WJMK, producers of health care and drug ads, said Cronk was put off the deal in May after reading comments in the New York Times.

An article asked if Cronkite was being paid to help make ads designed to look like news.

The 86-year-old, who left CBS in 1981, insists he believed he was to make an educational film, which WJMK denies.

WJMK says Cronkite, in agreeing to do the work, knew his name and image could be used for "any and all media".

WJMK's suit is seeking damages from both Mr Cronkite and his production company, Maxwell & Seeboutzen Associates.

Cronkite claims WJMK was taking money from health care companies to produce promotional films on their products.

His lawyer Gerald E Singleton said: "It's Walter's position that he was defrauded into entering into this agreement.

"They turned around and basically ran a telemarketing operation."

War reporter

CNN presenter Aaron Brown backed out of a similar deal with WJMK after the New York Times ran its story. He was not named in the lawsuit.

WJMK signed up Cronkite and Brown to replace Morley Safer, of CBS' 60 Minutes news magazine programme.

Safer decided it was wrong to keep working for the company after four years.

Cronkite was considered the elder statesman of US television news, with a distinguished reporting background.

He was heavily involved in reporting World War II. He covered the Battle of the Bulge and went on to report the Nuremberg trials.

Later he went to Moscow to cover the Cold War.

In 1950 he joined CBS and covered events such as the assassination of John F Kennedy, the moon landing, Watergate, Nixon's resignation and the fall of Saigon.