BOSTON (AP) – Former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite says news media who want to attract the youthful Internet audience need to make the news interesting rather than trying merely to amuse and entertain people.

“To make it more interesting they should focus on good writing, good reporting and good editing,” Cronkite told a forum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library on Wednesday. “But that’s not what they’re doing.”

“Television is too focused on entertaining the audience,” he said, though serious broadcasters “do a very good job.”

Cronkite said cable television talk shows where participants attempt to entertain by shouting at each other reflect a more divisive political climate in the national overall.

“One of the misfortunes we are suffering now is negative campaigning,” he said. “We can debate the important issues without the bitterness.”

Cronkite, who was introduced at the forum by Caroline Kennedy, also reflected on President Kennedy’s legacy in establishing the nation’s space program.

He said he himself was “speechless” when Astronaut Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969, nearly six years after Kennedy’s death.

“The man landing on the moon meant the most to me, and that includes advances in medicine and communication,” Cronkite said.