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Tim Russert Dies At 58
SputnikPanic writes "Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief and moderator of the popular Sunday talk program Meet the Press, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 58. Russert was known as an even-handed journalist who did not shy away from asking direct and often difficult questions of politicians regardless of their political persuasion. Earlier this year, Russert had been named by Time Magazine as one of the '100 most influential people in the world.'"
I always looked forward to how Russert handled interviews and debates. Left or right, loony or sane, one always got a fair hand from him. He'd get on anyone who was hiding something, but I don't know of many who left his presence angry.
He was a rarity in the world of political journalism.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
America has just lost one of the last great newsmen out there. I know my sunday mornings wont be quite the same.
Well he'll be missed by those who don't make dumbass analogies.
Virtually no one in news asks candidates and newsmakers the tough questions anymore. You could always count on Tim to throw hardballs every time. He also was very good at ignoring spin when he didn't get a straight answer. Great interviewer and moderator. Condolences to his family and friends, he certainly was taken before his time.
good man, great reporter.
Tim Russert was one of the few journalists today who are worthy of that name. Hearkening back to the proud traditions of Walter Kronkite and Edward R Murrough, who asked tough questions of big players who could normally intimidate or frighten their way out of being asked the questions.
Instead, we're left with Barbara Walters asking what sort of tree people would be, and persisting.
Another blow to quality journalism in America.
cheers
Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
Meet The Press was my Sunday morning staple, and it was because of Tim Russert. NBC will be hard pressed to find someone to fill his shoes.
I'll never forget Russert on the NBC coverage of the 2000 presidential election. Early in the evening, Russert wrote on his little whiteboard "Florida, Florida, Florida!" before anyone had any idea how close it was going to be. I stayed up with Russert and Brokaw that night until the next dawn, hoping to find out who the next president would be. Of course there were no conclusions, but Russert's exploration of the electoral college system and the implications of the vote returns were insightful and kept me watching.
Russert wasn't afraid of asking tough questions to powerful people. When they would try to weasel their way out of a direct answer, he would ask again, and again if necessary. If only all journalists would have that kind of conviction.
He will be missed. My condolences to his family.
-molo
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
The world of political news, especially with this historic national election coming up, will be poorer for his passing. I wish he could have lived to see it and report on it.
+++ATH0
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I respected Tim Russert a great deal. He was one of the few out there who still seemed like he wanted to do hard news and prevent bias as much as he could.
Who cares if it is not interesting to you or to people outside the US? The set of people who are not you and live inside the US is plenty to make it worthwhile.
Also, if this were "offtopic" for slashdot, why is there an entire Section about it?
Politics
This section is for news relevant to United States government politics. It was created primarily to cover the 2004 US Presidential Election, but today exists for occasional stories that fit the bill.
It makes me sad to see people memorializing Russert as a giant of journalism. At best he was a non-abrasive talker tossing softballs. The standard for journalism only seems to get lower and lower.
It's too bad he has died but it's only bad for journalism because so many of his competitors are loudmouth idiots. A calm demeanor has been enough to make him look like Walter Cronkite but for those of us with longer memories Russert is not notable.
Its news in which nerds might be interested, and it matters. It isn't "Nerd News, Stuff that matters". Or are nerds supposed to be completely oblivious, apathetic, and uninterested in the real world? Seems a pathetic existence.
If you don't care, don't open the article. Easy enough for you?
That said, I'm a nerd, and I care, and I find that this matters, since Russert was one of the last true journalists out there, who wasn't a pretty talking-head pundit. Our supply of actual newsmen is dwindling rapidly, and soon we will be stuck with hordes of O'Reilly/Olbermann* clones. Commentators disguised as newsmen.
* I personally like Olbermann, but calling him a newsman is rather inaccurate, he's a pundit, insightful, but still a pundit.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
And I'd recommend reading Scott McClellan's book to see how the press was manipulated. And is still being manipulated.
McClellan's book also has about the only decent quote from Russert about Gulf War II.
Lou Dobbs asks harder questions about immigration almost every single week than Russert ever did about the war.
Jon Stewart is the best journalist we have and he's limited by whatever he can turn into a joke.
I'm sorry. Severe brain-fart there. I have confused Russert with someone else.
"Never mind."
-Emily Litella
No..I don't usually pay that stuff much attention, but, when one of the most important political newsmen of recent times...that is as unbiased as they come dies....especially in such an important junction in US politics...it is something that is, or should be to US citizens.
Too many people in the US aren't paying attention...and this was as good of a guy to help that problem as possible. He couldn't make you watch or care...but, he was good at putting it out there.
At this point in time....this was an important death.
I cannot at this point think of much of anyone out there to replace him......and we need many more like him. Especially these days....we are going to miss having someone that does ask the tough questions of our leaders....and not only play softball with one side or the other.
We need answers...and there's not many out there that can be trusted to do that.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Ok, now that the "24-hour-can't-say-anything-critical-about-a-dead-man" period is over, can I just ask - huh? Are you sure you're talking about the right Tim Russert?
I remember a Tim Russert who insisted in open court that his personal journalistic philosophy was that, when talking to a public official, anything that was said was implicitly off the record unless that public official said that it could go on the record, explicitly.
I remember a Tim Russert who adamantly refused to testify during the Libby trial, who refused to testify against a source who had committed treason against the United States (according to George HW Bush), a Russert who privileged his own journalistic access to the nation's elites over the interests of the people his journalism was meant to serve.
I remember a Russert who, in 2004, basically rolled over for the President. I don't remember any "hardballs"; I remember a craven submission to the bamboozlement of an administration he, along with the rest of his Beltway buddies, allowed to lie to us for years.
I remember a Tim Russert who the Bush administration knew was a sympathetic media outlet to their talking points, a Tim Russert whose "Meet the Press" was a preferred venue because, in the words of a top Cheney aide, they could "control the message."
I can't for the life if me imagine how you remember Russert as some kind of dogged truth-seeker who stuck politicians to the sticking place. Those of us who were paying attention to his show know that Russert was at the head of the destruction of American journalism; the leader of an abdication of their responsibilities as the Fifth Estate.
Who the fuck are you talking about? Because it wasn't, in any way, Tim Russert, official stenographer for the Bush Administration.
P.S. Maybe he was a great dad, and a great guy, I don't know. I feel bad for his father, I really do. But this Tim Russert you keep talking about, the one who was so brave and asked such probing questions... well, I sure as hell wished that Tim Russert had actually existed, instead of the craven, obsequious Tim Russert we actually had on Meet the Press, because maybe with a media that actually did it's job we wouldn't be in so many of the messes we're in.
I never have frustrations, the reason is, to wit:
If at first I don't succeed, I quit!