Not to speak ill of the dead, and all, but why is his death such Omigawd news? I liked the guy as much as the next man - I mean, he fact checked!
This seems like a case of the news media being more interested in themselves than the news itself, though. For fuck’s sake, he’s getting the same column inches and air time that Gerald Ford got.
I’ll go stand in that column next to you. Honestly, I didn’t even know who Tim Russert was. I’m sure he was a fine fellow and maybe he’s done some important things, but IMO it’s really unbalanced the way the media covers stories that are close to its own, like the way CNN covers every minor house fire and car chase that happens in Atlanta.
Yeah, except that from what I hear he was a genuinely NICE person. That’s probably not too common in Washington. He’s getting accolades from both sides of the political aisle.
I assume Tim Russert got around. Network News buisness is still a small cadre of folks (a couple dozen or so big names). They get to know each other, if for nothing else than to follow the careers of the competitors. They may even “fact check” off each other as a professional courtesy, and there is a lot of behind the scenes dialog between them.
Also, I think a sudden, unexpected death like that hits closer to home to the folks within the same industry. He didn’t look that old, compared to Andy Rooney or Walter Kronkite…
I was truly shocked and saddened that he died. He was on The Tonight Show quite a bit and he seemed down to earth, honest and thoughtful. He could ask a pointed question without rancor and never seemed to take things personally.
