The obituaries of famed newsman (and early Beat hero) Walter Cronkite are also the history of news in the 20th century, from his days as a cub reporter through newspaper, radio, and TV. There could be no more “trusted source” than Cronkite, a mantle which has now passed to institutions (CNN, Fox) but is slipping away from them. The development of trusted sources will be the history of news in the 21st century.
I love it when you capture the essence of things so aptly in just a few words.
If he hadn’t blatantly and knowingly lied about the Tet Offensive, the whole “trusted source” thing might be less likely to make me giggle inappropriately.
But, then, death seems to turn even the worst among us into overnight saints. Witness the canonization of St. Michael the Begloved.