TIM RUSSERT AND TOM BROKAW: LEADERS OF THE PACK
"It is my sad duty to report that Tim Russert collapsed and died."
With these words, Tom Brokaw, former NBC News anchor and colleague and friend of Tim Russert, announced the sudden death of the NBC Bureau Chief and Moderator of "Meet the Press."
When I think of Tim Russert I think of the little white board. The low tech visual aid that kept me on the edge of my seat during coverage of the 2000 presidential elections.
"Florida, Florida, Florida," Russert had predicted, tapping the board. "It all comes down to Florida."
While all the other networks were busy calculating votes and voting trends with walls of fancy high tech graphic tote boards, Russert and Tom Brokaw went late into the night and the next morning, keeping a simple tally of electoral votes on the little white board.
As the drama of the evening unfolded and electoral votes were counted and miscounted and counted again, Russert and Brokaw kept me on the edge of my seat.
With his little white board and down to earth manner, Russert spoke to his audience, as if to say, "listen folks, is isn't rocket science and you citizens don't need fancy and expensive electronic wizardry to understand what makes your democracy tick."
Since learning of Russert's death from a heart attack on the job, I have thought a lot about his appeal and what he means to journalism and to American politics. He is of course, part of the Washington establishment, having served first as a political advisor and then as NBC News Washington Bureau chief. Moving from working in politics to covering it as a journalist, was an unusual transition 20 years ago.
But if he had ties to any one party, he didn't show it. Russert played it right down the middle, as good journalists do. He was as tough on Hillary Clinton as he was on Dick Cheney.
Russert himself said that when he first landed the job as Moderator of "Meet the Press," he consulted with the original host, who advised him to "study his guests, learn everything about them, and then take the other side." And so he did and did extraordinarily well.
That's what made him a great journalist. He did his homework, studied the facts, actually read the books and held public figures accountable. In these days of brash TV talking heads spouting opinions about gossip, innuendo and mud slinging, when even a presidential candidate has to create his own website to dispel cheap political runmors, Russert rose above the fray.
The fact that he was an attorney, worked for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and New York Governor Mario Cuomo gave him a deep understanding of politics and the political process from the inside out. But when he made the leap to broadcast journalism, Russert never looked back.
I have read that when he first went to NBC Russert worked behind the scenes. At some point executives figured out that he knew more about politics and could explain it better than most, so they urged him to take an on air position. Russert was reluctant, saying he had a "face for radio."
These days, Americans "want it all" when it comes to TV news. They want broadcast journalists to be unbiased, objective and accurate while at the same time wanting to be entertained by them. Infotainment has spawned a generation of journalists who sometimes place style over substance.
Russert had substance and he also had style. But his style was not concocted, superficial or affected. His "passion for politics" as Brokaw put it, was contagious and drew me and millions of other viewers to him. He was just himelf, the son of a garbageman from Buffalo, a real person who could relate to real people and their concerns.
As I sit here tapping on my computer keyboard, I am also listening to a panel discussion about Tim Russert on MSNBC. These comments from fellow journalists and commentators speak to Russet's appeal, as a journalist, political commentator and citizen:
"He never betrayed his roots."
"He was so authentic."
"There was an honesty about Tim that inspired. You knew you were going to get it straight. there was no hidden agenda."
"You never knew who his preferred candidate was."
"He was just a regular guy who was also an extraordinary man."
"Hairspray never touched that Irish hair."
"If he asked a question, he really wanted to know and learn."
As a journalism educator, I am very impressed and heartened hat Tim Russert was not a product of a journalism school, that he didn't set out to be an on air personality and that he valued substance over superficiality.
Tim Russert was the real deal. He was part of a generation of journalists who saw journalism as a calling to serve the public. Or as the Society of Professional journalist Ethics code states, "To Seek the Truth and Report It."
Russert, Brokaw, Rather, Cronkite and the other broadcast journalists of their day are members of the "Greatest Generation" of journalists, to steal a phrase from Tom Brokaw.
MSNBC is signing off now. Russert's hero Springsteen is singing in the background as photos of Russert flash on the screen. It's a sad day for all of us who value good journalism, who stand for the principles of a free press, fairness and truth.
I only wish that aspiring journalists will honor and be inspired by the legacy of Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw and the "greatest generation" of TV journalists.
The little white board is now in the Smithsonian. Let's hope that a new generation of journalists appreciates its meaning and continue the good work of journalists like Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw.