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Writer and editor Home > Blogs > Brain Droppings > Archives > 2008 > June > 18 > Entry
Enough Tim Russert, please
All right, this is getting a bit outta hand, I think.
Today, the ideologically opposite poles of the Wall Street Journal AND National Public Radio had even more … yes, you guessed it … appreciations for Tim Russert, meaning that the national media frenzy over the man’s passing is verging upon entering its second week. Sheesh.
Poor folks out in ReaderLand must be wondering by now whether John McCain would get the same sort of worship in the press if he should be so unlucky to shuffle off the mortal coil… I know I’m starting to wonder, and this is my business.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure Russert was a fine man, and yes, 58 is early in terms of mortality. And I understand, as we all do, that newspapers and TV stations have a custom of making more fuss, at least a bit more, about in-house deaths than we do about those of folks who didn’t spend their careers in the media. Here at the DDN, we did honor a recently departed colleague with a story that some readers may have realized was longer than what may have been done for, say, an accountant at Wright-Patterson.
But we did a short 8-inch story and a mugshot of him. What MSNBC and NBC have been doing for Russert is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay over the top. It’s almost becoming a parody of itself.
And is it OK in all this to say that as a journalist and viewer, I never really thought that highly of Russert’s work? I think he asked lumpy, over-simple questions that seemed to set the world of politics in stark black and white, red and blue terms, and which did little to help the national conversation. He was belligerent and impolite, most of the times I watched him … which, admittedly, were few in recent years because I didn’t seek him out.
I’m not the only person who feels this way, I imagine … but in all the hagiography of the last few days — has there been any NEWS in any of it? — who would feel safe to suggest that maybe the guy really didn’t merit all this fuss?
If you’re looking for an example of just how out of touch the national media has become with what is really going on in the world — the rest of it, I mean — I offer the previous week.
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Comments
By ElKe
June 28, 2008 9:49 PM | Link to this
The truly great are always mourned well and feted. The mediocre and average are remembered briefly. The rest … hardly missed. Which will you be?By karen
June 22, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
and from your egotistical viewpoint, what will you be remembered for? leadbelly? looking at the comments for that column; hardly looked read to me!By karen
June 22, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this
and from your egotistical viewpoint, what will you be remembered for? leadbelly? looking at the comments for that column; hardly looked read to me!By susan
June 20, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this
the media response is surprising since the coverage of anna nicole’s passing was understated and tasteful.By rr
June 19, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
I agree with you enough is enough. Thanks for speaking my mind. rrBy Daisy
June 19, 2008 6:59 AM | Link to this
Well, AMEN! I agree with Ron, this is over the top! LET IT GO! He was a newsman who was well paid for doing his job.By Eve
June 19, 2008 6:44 AM | Link to this
An article about overkill from the same “journalist” who’s still writing about Britney.By null
June 18, 2008 11:54 PM | Link to this
Have you not heard of the maxim, “speak nothing but good about the dead”? Tim left a legacy unmatched by very few.By LA
June 18, 2008 10:54 PM | Link to this
Well, there certainly are untalented people whose extensive coverage by the media is as bewildering as it is undeserved. But when someone of the calibre of Tim Russert passes away suddenly and the news of his passing receives extensive coverage, I’m sure many feel the coverage is justified. He was loved and admired by a lot of people not only for his journalism acumen but for his zest for life and the importance he placed on his family. People identified with him. If he was not your cup of tea as a journalist and you feel the coverage has been too extensive, you are certainly free to watch something else. I personally felt he was like an old friend invited into the house every week and fully deserving of the coverage to remember him and celebrate his life.By transplant
June 18, 2008 10:25 PM | Link to this
Wow — an untimely death of one of the best media personalities of our generation and you are complaining that too much is being made of it only days after this death? For many, part of Sunday was watching Russert — he was that powerful. Perhaps, in a day or so, you will re-think your position and realize how much of a loss this was to your profession — if Russert’s coverage is on a particular show, you do have the option of turning it off!By Chris
June 18, 2008 8:11 PM | Link to this
Are you serious? The man just passed and he was very big in the media. If your tired of hearing about him turn the tv or radio off.By Chris
June 18, 2008 8:11 PM | Link to this
Are you serious? The man just passed and he was very big in the media. If your tired of hearing about him turn the tv or radio off.By Carrie
June 18, 2008 7:32 PM | Link to this
I was so angry when I wrote my first comment I spelled politics incorrectly. I apologize. But my point remains. We have to hear every all about Britney Spears and what has she done for humanity? Tim Russert was a fine man and he was a man of integrity. He loved his God and his family and his job. Our country is a better country for it and we should be grateful, not complaining about it. If you were a true journalist at heart you would understand what Tim Russert was all about. Shame on you.By Carrie
June 18, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this
What is wrong with you? The man is barely in the ground and you want people to stop talking about Tim. Do you have a clue what this man has done for polotics? He was one of the finest,most honest and fairest people in polotics. We need more just like him. Perhaps memorializing him just might be the mentoring it would take for some young person to aspire to be like him. You are so selfish. If you don’t like journalism, you are in the wrong profession dude. Truly, I have had enough of you and your whining about everything and everybody else.By victor mickunas
June 18, 2008 5:24 PM | Link to this
well Hallelujah!By John
June 18, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this
You’re being too kind. Tim Russert was an outstanding broadcaster but the wall-to-wall coverage of his sudden death was well over the top.