Walter Cronkite for the Ron Howard film of the same name. Cronkite wrote a syndicated opinion column for King Features Syndicate. In 2005 and 2006, he contributed to "The Huffington Post". Cronkite was the honorary chairman of The Interfaith Alliance. In 2006, he presented the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award to actor and activist George Clooney on behalf of his organization at its annual dinner in New York. Cronkite was a vocal advocate for free airtime for political candidates. He worked with the Alliance for Better Campaigns and Common Cause, for instance, on an unsuccessful lobbying effort to have an amendment
CBS Evening News interest stories, over time it returned to the hard news format popularized by Cronkite. In an April 2011 article, "The New York Times" reported that "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley was considered to be the front-runner to replace Couric as anchor of the program. On May 3, 2011, CBS confirmed that Pelley would replace Couric as anchor for the "CBS Evening News" in June. Harry Smith served as the interim anchor until Pelley's tenure started on June 6, 2011 (like Couric before him, Smith would also depart from CBS a month later). The graphics were subtly updated, the American flag