Chris Berman: The Next Cronkite

In the wake of Walter Cronkite's passing, the Washington Post to "suggest public figures who meet the Cronkite standard of trustworthiness." The list is pretty much as you'd expect. Oprah, Bill Moyers, Chris Berman.

Wait, what? Boomer? Chris "Don't Call Me Ethel" Berman? Yes, none other. So says one John Prendergast, of the Center for American Progress, who seems to have never watched television in his life. Here's what he told the Post:

"There are a few. Joel Osteen: Americans are looking increasingly to the pulpit for spiritual direction in uncertain times, and the biggest televangelist-author of all of them is Osteen. Chris Berman, HBO [sic]: If you are a sports fan, and there are tens of millions of them in the U.S., this choice requires no explanation. When the Boomer speaks, people listen. Oprah Winfrey: One of the tag lines of the 21st century has become, 'It must be true; I heard it on Oprah.'"

Oprah, some televangelist and Berman. Obviously, the man doesn't watch TV the way you and I do. I'd give Prendergast the benefit of the doubt here and suggest he's maybe only vaguely familiar with the work of Chris Berman and is therefore unaware that Chris Berman makes Mary Hart look like Ed Murrow, except that Prendergast's day job would suggest otherwise. He's the co-founder of the Enough Project, a nonprofit group that works to end crimes against humanity.

If Not Cronkite, Whom? A Few Notables Weigh In on Whom (or What) They Trust. [Washington Post]