dkp Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Prayers and best wishes to his family and loved ones. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obit_russert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 too sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 He had just moved his father to a nursing home. This will be really sad for the old gentleman to lose his son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Al Hunt is talking about it now, on Moyers.You never know..given age diff.. he wrote a book about his dad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I watched Meet The Press most Sundays and he will be missed. He had a great approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkp Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 My first memory of Tim was an informal debate-style show that he and Chris Matthews did together. This would have been circa 1992-1994. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 NBC, the News in General, will never be the same ............ A man of my age group, a news leader, if you will, fair, tough, to the point .... A Great Professional, a man of deep commitment to his Religion, to his Family, and a Great American Blue-Collar Buffalo, N.Y. guy .......... Tim will be missed, Rest In Peace Mr. Russert ...................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Brokaw and Olbermann are staying up all night. Matthews is on right now from Paris. Russert was truly a classic journalist who did not play either side, but did his homework, lived up to the MTP tradition and cozied up with the truth. Most of his friends and colleagues also have lauded him for being humble, positive, and generous. And of course, one of the greatest sons and fathers in history. Very ironic on this of all weekends. He will be very missed. RIP. Early morning Sundays will never be the same.......... Truly a loss to the country. Will never forget "Florida, Florida, and Florida" - and the dry erase board as long as I live...... Carl. P.S. - Scary - he just had a normal stress test two months ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 There goes a Real Man. Very sad day for all in his profession and family. I wish them peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomad02rider Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 For Tim...Go Bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Very ironic on this of all weekends. Agreed. My Dad passed away Father's Day 21 years ago, the day my wife and I got back from from our honeymoon. It's a bittersweet holiday, for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoudnClear Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Whenever I tuned in to see Russert, I always wished he was on TV more. Some people just speak clearly and its easy to follow them. They're real and they're tuned in on your level. He was like that for me. What a shame that he had to go so early. I guess there was someone important to interview/shake down on the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Yes. Russert was for real. he wasn't a partisan with a thin veneer of journalism covering it up. Whatever his politics, he took reporting the news seriously. Contrasting him with Rather, Rather was a newsman, but it was also about him, big time. With Russert, it was about the news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Traveler Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Count me in as one who shed a tear and will miss Tim Russert... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 With Russert, it was about the news. That just about says it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Well, sorry, but I just don't agree with a lot of that, Mark. Russert was as good a political analyst as I've seen on TV, and it's clear that many others of all stripes and politics thought so. I'm not sure what a good real journalist is, but MTP moderator doesn't seem to be that line of work. Rather, its viewpoint trading under close questioning. I'd agree with that comment if it were made about Mr. Weak, George Stephanopoulos, who gave Fred Thompson's silly statements last weekend one equally silly pass after another. Beyond that, Russert was an outstanding high executive -- as NBC bureau chief for Washington, made excellent personnel appointments and protected them and those under him from characteristically aimless staff and budget cuts. This article spells out how it will take several individuals, all much better than the run of the mill, to sustain the several things that he did well. Personnel and true management (as opposed to mere presiding) are rare talents to be treasured by any organization and its employees. I think NBC has two critical things before it: (1) Arrive at a good MTP moderator (I'd guess they'll do some rotations for a while; I think Andrea Mitchell would be a good, tough questioner). (2) Select a good bureau chief who'll make the kind of insightful personnel selections that chose Tim Russert in the first place. Given the mediocrity that chose Katie Couric as CBS news anchor, I dunno if that kind of expertise survives around here any more. For example, Steve Capus, NBC News president, was sure asleep at the switch about Don Imus until DI imploded and we lost his great interviews and country music promotion on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Well, I am not sure what the job is that he had on Meet the Press? Moderator? Analyst? Executive in charge of news? Here's the problem - the show called Meet the Press is useless bullhorning (as are all the other Sunday News shows). And since, he was the guy passing the bullhorn around, I see that as not serving any public interest to any depth. What is a good journalist? It is a person that finds the story as it affects people, and can report the effects regardless of whose toes get stepped on. A good journalist works from the bottom up - that is like a pyramid with all the consequences at the bottom being documented and reported, then working upwards with these facts through the causal chain to arrive at the source of the story. What you see on shows like MTP is top down reporting. It starts and ends with the official line, from the officials in charge, or those competing to be in charge I don't agree that MTP started and ended with official lines. I have seen MTP as the same sort of questioning and answering that goes on in, say, trials by judge or jury or perhaps in town meetings. Only weak moderating would lead to unchallenged bullhorning -- that's what a political speech is, and we do see too much of that talking-head syndrome. I do not see discussions among the likes of Doris K Goodwin and others of her caliber as unchallenged bullhorning of "talking points." I also don't call the Sunday talk shows "news."Anyway, you and I have fundamentally different perceptions of what MTP has been about. Journalism is fundamentally different, and we need better examples of that, too. I think both have a role, and don't think either is better or rules the other out of existence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Briefly, they were invited ... sometimes eagerly responding and sometimes not. At one extreme (2003?), C. Rice and other administration cheerleaders for the upcoming Iraq invasion went on the programs en masse as the NYTimes collaborated via Judith Miller on a unifyied party line. Bad days indeed. Sometimes, a new book deemed worthwhile is the subject of an interview and occasionally a group discussion. I thought Tim Russert as good or better and more probing at these things as anyone. That will be, or should be, the test of who NBC picks to follow him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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