Tim Russert coverage?

Question

Is anyone else incredulous, flabbergasted, and feeling the world is seriously out of sync that we are getting more news coverage over a reporter dying than we would give anyone short of a head-of-state? I mean REALLY! SERIOUSLY? We haven't given this much press to Awardees of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Don't get me wrong, I liked him and all... but does anyone else feel this is a bit extreme? Is this a sign of how self-important the media holds themselves?

Answer 1

Yes, absolutely.  I was astonished last night when CBS spent over half their newscast on his death, and as I dwelled on it, I thought of it as a perfect example of the hubris of the media.  Nothing against Tim Russert, but with other such pressing news (Cedar Rapids underwater, fires in California, etc) it was ridiculous overkill.

Answer 2

The Journalism World often does over value itself and it does do a lot of navel gazing when when news breaks that is relevant to world of journalism.

Yes, it's true. The unexpected death of Tim Russert is getting a lot of air time. And it will be all over the papers tomorrow. It's partially because journalists revere him. But it's also because it's a shocker to the system. No one really had any idea. And he's been hosting "Meet the Press" for decades. This is a man who lived a very full life, one that has been relatively non-confrontational. But what brought him down was some form of a heart disease. It's something that affects so many of us without much regard.

Other than his stature within the broadcast journalism world, I think one of the reasons that there has been so much talk is because his death took so many by surprised, and it causes so many of us to evaluate our own mortality and how we are living our lives.

Answer 3

And don't get ME wrong but you appear to have no idea how important he was to the media.  Too bad you felt the need to air your feelings on a night when millions of people are mourning the death of an indispensible figurehead.

Answer 4

I believe the reason Tim Russert's death is being so widely covered is due to the way he covered and delivered the news;  the way he questioned the status quo:  He was a critical, non-partisan "messenger" for us, the people.  If you really analyze the importance of "Meet the Press" in the past 15+ years for our political process, you would see what an impact he has made in the news media.  

He was in millions of people's homes every Sunday, questioning Washington, and holding our politicians accountable for their actions.  He was tireless in his research for the truth, and dedicated his life to it.

I don't believe that it's unreasonable for the media (especially NBC/GE) to dedicate a couple of days to  remember a man who has devoted 15+ years of his life to the American political process.

Answer 5

I have respect for Tim Russert and I feel badly for what happened. I understood the need for the breaking news coverage. However, I am totally blown away that every news channel has been talking about it non stop since the story first broke and now it is becoming highly peculiar.

His untimely death has been covered and now it is time to move on. Frankly, there is nothing else for the reporters to say. The man is gone and rehashing the story over and over is not going to bring him back.

This country has much more critical issues to deal with and these reporters are not behaving professionally. Perhaps they should take some bereavement time off to deal with their own emotional issues. There are 500 year floods in the Midwest, two ongoing wars, inflation, an energy crisis, a food supply problem (thanks to our FDA).

I really believe that these reporters need to return to behaving professionally and responsibly. Their job is to report the news - not to do their soul-searching during the news reports.

Answer 6

How about this. The president sends a plane to fetch his family from their vacation. So my question, who spent that money for this plane ?  If it was the Government then since when did i have to pay money via taxes to give VIP service to a newscaster.

Answer 7

Maybe if you knew him personally you'd think differently. Do you have to be so disrespectful? Just let him have his one last appearance on television.

Answer 8

To me, it seems perfectly in proportion to the man's contribution to our society.

Answer 9

They want to make sure nobody thinks he was the piece of c**p that he was.