From Boston.com
Breaking news 3:28 PM
NY Times: TV journalist Tim Russert dead
According to the New York Times website, Tim Russert, 58, the NBC television journalist and “Meet The Press” host, has died of a heart attack.
Shocking, sad news. Rest in peace.
The first report,
Morning After Update: I spent a lot of time last night watching the cable shows to see how they were remembering Tim Russert. I can’t get over the connection to Father’s Day this weekend, given Russert’s connection to his own father as told in his book Big Russ and Me. A sign of the respect the public had for Russert, his book rocketed overnight to the #1 position on Amazon.com. What a tribute.
Two lines from his colleagues stood out for me, the first from Bob Schieffer of CBS, who had to compete every Sunday against Russert for 17 years. He said, “He gave the revolving door (between politics and the media) a good name.” Indeed he did.
The other was from GOP consultant Ed Rollins who said, and I’m paraphrasing, “Tim Russert has been in Washington for thirty years, he has risen to the top and yet he had no enemies. Few people in this town can make that claim.”
Without a doubt, the low light of the night was the presence of Keith Olberman anchoring the MSNBC coverage. I wanted to puke every time he said, paraphrasing again, “Russert had that objectivity that we all strive for or wish we could have”. Keep striving Keith, keep striving.
Sunday morning update: I was looking forward to MTP just to see how they would produce the show this week. I have to say I am very disappointed in the panel they chose for the program. Much has been said this weekend about Russert’s integrity as a journalist. The presence of two stone cold plagarists on the panel is a real head scratcher. For a guy with the deepest rolodex in town, I think they could have done better. The personal relationship with Barnicle and Doris Kearns Goodwin is one thing. A tribute show by journalists about a great journalist isn’t the place for them.