Timothy Russert Passes Away at 58
An Apparent Heart Attack Claims One of Political Television's Greatest Journalists
Russert was the type of political journalist which there is far too few of in today's media. His background in law gave him an almost cross analytical technique in interviewing guests of Meet the Press, which is why many famous politicians and public figures avoided coming on.
Meet the Press was lucky enough to have a host whose character and intellect was able to turn interviews into conversations. Whether sitting across from Ron Paul or Barack Obama, Tim Russert hard lines of questions made for interesting answers. Not a shiny or showy character, Russert was able to rein in big characters and channel big egos into some of political television's most famed sound bites.
One of my most favorite memories of Tim Russert's political journalism was the several appearances that Mike Huckabee had made on Meet the Press. I am personally no Republican by any stretch of the imagination, but the type of conversations that Russert and Huckabee had on the show made me warm up to him more than I ever thought he would. Instead of looking like a Bible beating fundamentalist from the south I was able to notice Tim Russert slowly stripping away the layers of bad PR that had stuck to Huckabee's persona, especially in the liberal state of Massachusetts where I live.
In most circles of politically savvy friends that I am associated with, any public figure who is under scrutiny comes into the phrase "did you see (insert name) on meet the press last night?" Rarely did Tim Russert make the show about himself, but rather he dedicated his work to the sought after truths that so many people feel they cannot find on network television anymore.
In my opinion and I believe many other's as well, Tim Russert will go down as one of the greatest political journalists every to grace the TV screen. I'll sincerely hope that someone will come along and try to meet the high bar that he had set and continue the search of honest, truthful moments.
Published by JR Moreau
JR Moreau is a freelance writer of several disciplines, including but not limited to: print/digital journalism, blogging, marketing, branding & pr. Working full time at a marketing analysis software company,... View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentGreat reporting.
It made me sick when Tim Russert called Huckabee Mr. Vice President, after that NRA/pointing a gun at Obama comment. Ugh. But I was a regular viewer and loved the show.