I don't mean this to be mean towards Russert, but will there be this much coverage when...

[book_worm]

Walter Cronkite dies? Tim Russert seems like a good guy and he apparently revigorated MTP and Sunday morning TV, but I think a lot of this is the shock that this relatively young man died. I wonder if there will be a day long tribute to Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America who presided over presidential elections, assassinations, the space race and wars (WWII, Korea, Vietnam (remember his famous commentary in which LBJ said, "If we lost Cronkite we lost the country") and the Cold War. I sure hope so.

[SharonRB]

1. Of course there will be

He's been out of the spotlight, but I'm sure his eventual death will be covered like this. This just really hits so close to home now.

[LisaM]

2. Walter Cronkite? I think there will be more.

Is the coverage on the networks, or just the cable channels?

[ChazII]

5. I agree.

There will undoubtedly be several days of coverage, not unlike royalty.

[LittleClarkie]

3. Hell, I'd also hope that Dan Rather would get his due as well

Not on a par with Cronkite, but still he's been there and back again.

[Bobbieo]

4. Tim was a working reporter who died on the job, unexpectedly!!!

[LittleClarkie]

6. Who's Tom

And your point is?

Does dying on the job make the work done on that job better?

Death as a career move?

[LisaM]

7. I think it would be hard for anyone on cable news today, MSNBC in particular

to really focus on anything else. My guess is that they almost COULDN'T do anything else. If someone dropped dead at your work, wouldn't people have a hard time working? I would.

[LittleClarkie]

8. I'm sure you're right. But the question asked in the OP was about Cronkite.

I hope he'd get as grand a send off.

[Bobbieo]

9. It makes it more expedient, though1 "TIM "was not retired

[MnFats]

10. in his time, Cronkite was a God.

the Vietnam war was over when he said it was.

[stray cat]

11. Russert was 58. Its different losing a son compared to a grandparent.

Both are painful but death at a young age is more out of the normal order

[dems_rightnow]

12. Cronkite will be widely hailed, yes

Will it be as emphatic as today's display? Probably not. It's partly the shock of losing a person so young, who everyone still expects to see on Sunday morning. There's a whole generation who never even knew Cronkite.

[dorkulon]

13. There's a question of timing here.

58 is pretty young. Cronkite's death won't be so unexpected.