Not only did Kuralt have a second family in Montana, he probably ignored a lot of complications in his stories and didn't search for the truth of the matter too hard. Kuralt didn't just drive around randomly looking for inspiring stories. (Try that some time and see if it works for you.) People would write in and tip him off to people they knew that they thought he should cover. Once the local yocals figured out that you could get on national TV by being folksy, you can imagine how much truth stretching and fabrication took place. Kuralt most certainly knew this, but didn't seem to care very much. I suppose we all want to live in Kuralt's America. However, it never existed.

Say what you want about Glass and TAL, but I do think its a more honest depiction of American life. It certainly doesn't focus only inspirational stories. It also gives a voice to works of fiction, if the fiction fits into the theme of the show.

If you want a real picture of life in America, read Studs Terkel and his interviews with everyday people. To me, that's the very best and most honest of this genre. His passing was a huge loss for American culture and journalism.

Also, for what its worth, Travels with Charlie was probably the inspiration for Kuralt. So, I don't think he was all that original.

Of course Kuralt wasn't looking for complicated truths. Uncomplicated, happy things is exactly what Kuralt set out to cover. If he was looking for complicated truths it would have been a different show.

Kuralt profiled the old man in Witchita who makes the neighborhood kids happy with his elaborate model train sets, while not mentioning the fact that the man was living on food stamps, because happy things were his beat.

It wasn't about disonesty; it was about editing.

It wasn't just about editing. Its pretty clear that some stories omitted facts that completely changed the story's meaning. I am all in favor of happy stories, but not half-truths and falsifications.

If he was reporting on the wonders of rehabilitation within the US penal system, without mentioning that most criminals are recidivists and prisons are hell holes, I would agree.

But Kuralt was hardly "reporting." He was just finding things to make people happy. The audience understood that.

You can "make people happy" by writing pure fiction. However, he sold his work as true stories of everyday people. He was widely regarded to be a journalist, not a storyteller or fictionalist. He worked for CBS news, the same organization responsible for the evening news. He also worked in an era where mainstream media was always assumed to be unbiased and factually true.