Tim Russert, anchor of NBC’s Meet the Press, an influential Sunday morning political talk show, died suddenly on Friday, while taping a segment for today’s broadcast. He was only 58. With his passing, the country has lost a great asset - one of the very few journalists who held politicians accountable for their earlier commitments. Unlike Bill O’Rielley’s truly dreadful program, Meet the Press really was a “no spin zone”.
Russert combined searching questions with hawk-like attention to his guests’ replies. He followed up relentlessly if he thought they were pulling the wool. Yet he did so with a seemingly endless reservoir of good humor that made even the toughest questions seem completely matter of fact and eminently reasonable (which they usually were).
His insight, professionalism and tenacity are a model of television journalism, which has lost perhaps its greatest exemplar of recent years. And we have lost the benefit of his quest for truth in political advertising.
Sunday mornings will seem strangely empty; he will be greatly missed.
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