Posted on 06/16/2008 8:23:39 AM PDT by RDTF
Here's one thing you can say about journalists: Surely no one loves us as much as we love ourselves.
That's one lesson of the Tim Russert coverage.
A friend told me Sunday: "I now know more about Tim Russert than I do many members of my family."
After Russert's shocking death Friday at age 58, television kept serving up witnesses to his expertise, intelligence, diligence, kindness, faith, love of family, Buffalo and the Buffalo Bills. The self-indulgence was breathtaking.
On Monday's "Today," Matt Lauer interviewed Russert's son, Luke. The show basically gave over the first half-hour to the Russert story. Presidential candidates aren't questioned at such length on morning programs.
And the children of America's fallen heroes don't receive such a platform, either.
Here are a few points to consider:
Does the coverage move the story along? "ABC World News" examined heart disease, which killed Russert. Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren took up the same issue. But so much of the coverage was of the "I remember Tim" variety. Sad to say, a lot of it was repetitive.
Is there a sense of proportion? Peter Jennings didn't receive such heavy coverage when he died -- ABC doesn't own a cable channel. And he was in our homes, night after night, for 20 years. MSNBC kept Russert front and center through the weekend. How will NBC cover the passing of Tom Brokaw? Hasn't he been the most influential figure at NBC for the past two decades?
Do the hours of coverage inflate the story? Tim Russert was excellent at his job, make no mistake. He worked hard, he treated his guests fairly, and he asked tough questions. But by weekend's end, some commentators had elevated him to preeminent journalist of his time. -snip-
Really? Beware hyperbole.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.orlandosentinel.com ...
Is this jouralist serious? It was all about ratings. They were getting tracking numbers that were good, so they went for it.
It’s ok, I idolized Bobby Orr as a kid in Stoughton Mass..
But with Mr Russert's demise it was also something else, something that is integral part of television in this country - cheap sentimentality, kitsch, what Vladimir Nabokov called 'poshlost', no different from the poshlost of the Americans Idle show that is the inspiration for the longest thread here. And this man's death was a grand opportunity to exploit the audience's hunger for this type of entertainment.
As a woman said above, TV is not mandatory. Kill it!
Collective naval gazing.
I was hoping they would afford Russert the honor he deserves of lying in State in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building.
Another leftist comes face to face with ultimate reality. Next.
I felt touched by Tim Russert’s passing on Friday. I was home early to help prepare for a party on Saturday and the US Open was on TV (it wouldn’t have been on NBC otherwise). Tom Brokaw came on and made the announcement. I am also Irish Catholic and I have been taught by Jesuits. I felt a bit of a connection. At a “silent” retreat last year, at lunch they played a bit of Russert reciting his book (as in books on tape) about his relationship with his Dad and growing up learning from Jesuit priests. Interesting but not enough to make me want to buy his book.
I stopped watching Meet the Press several years ago with the more recent liberal slant. I watch Fox News Sunday. Tim Russert was a good reporter and NBC will have big shoes to fill to replace him. There probably isn’t somebody within the current organization who could get up to speed before the election. No big deal for me as I won’t watch NBC for election coverage anyways.
All that being said, I felt as much sorrow for the loss of Jim McKay at age 86 within the last couple weeks as for Tim Russert. Russert died too young and that is probably why it seemed like a shock to many. McKay was the consummate sports reporter for ABC Sports, especially Wide World of Sports and the Olympics when ABC had broadcast rights.
May they both rest in peace and let us have peace and move on from their losses.
I actually enjoyed the tributes to Tim. He seemed like a nice guy, and what a relief from all the daily “tributes” we get of Obama.
I’d much rather see clips of Tim talking about how great his dad is than see hours of Obama the politician.
I think NBC basically aired the grieving process, the shock, the understanding that Tim is gone, the geez what a loss, etc.
Maybe they overdid it, but they weren't prepared for his passing either.
I know personally, when my grandfather passed away unexpectedly, the shock made the grieving more intense. When a grandparent passed after a lengthy illness, there was a degree of thankfulness that their suffering was over.
Who’s Tim Russert?
TV is not mandatory!
What I took from Maria Shriver’s comment was that Tim mentored alot of the younger people at NBC, in a fatherly way.
BUMP!
...I canceled my subscription to Cox in March of 2006 and haven't looked back,especially because of this type of media coverage, among other things.
While Mr. Russert's sudden death was indeed shocking and difficult, particularly for his family, his colleagues should not use it as a means of self promotion.
I can’t wait to “grieve” over Olberman’s passing.
The networks are entitled to cover the death of Tim Russert as much as they like. This is how journalists grieve. Let them grieve without criticism.
No one is forcing anyone to watch it.
I watched for 15 minutes, said a brief prayer for him and his family and moved on.
I have not read this thread or the comments but I will say this. If something were to happen to Brit Hume, Tony Snow or Jim Angle everyone here would be holding a vigil for a month. Let those that loved Russert grieve him anyway they please, change the channel if you don’t like it.
I agree. I don’t think all the coverage was about Russert. It’s about our own mortality. It’s unexpected sometimes and that’s not something that our culture figures on. I personally don’t think it’s an over reaction. Some people just grieve big. I do. And again, I don’t think it’s even primarily about Russert, although it obviously is somewhat.
I almost did, FNC had Geraldo “The Fake” giving his opinion on Russert. I can’t change the channel fast enough when he comes on anything. I then send FNC an email and let them know that I canged the channel and why. Funny, I never get a reply.
For the life of me, I don’t know how this guys has a job on FNC or any other channel.
A dead corpse. Presently rotting.
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