I didn't like Tim Russert's style...

[MonkeyFunk]

that said, I was shocked and sad to hear of his death. Really sad.

I didn't think he was a good journalist. I'm old enough to remember when Meet the Press wasn't one guy trying to corner a politician. It was a panel of real journalists asking questions.

I think Russert was the master of the "gotcha". He'd dig up a quote that seemed to contradict something the subject now said, or he'd dig up a quote from an ally of the subject that contradicted what the subject said and try to cause a rift. Anyway, it was all based on digging up quotes, which just seemed weak to me. People in public life make hundreds of thousands of quotes, and they're sure to contradict once in awhile. Pointing it out isn't news, it's not good journalism.

Russert didn't try to reveal the inner thoughts of his subjects. He didn't try to show us anything new - a new angle, a new thought, a new perspective. He tried to catch them in a contradiction and pretended that was newsworthy.

He never deserved the position he had at NBC. Meet the Press was an iconic show and deserved better - it deserved real press people.

That said, he wasn't a right-winger, he wasn't a left-winger. He wasn't a tool of either side. He was just somebody who thought his method of interrogation was worthwhile. Once in awhile, it would lead to real news. But he ruined "Meet the Press".

Nonetheless, I think he was a very nice man and thought he was doing a good job. It's his producers who let us down.

[grasswire]

1. As I said. It was lazy work masquerading as journalism.

It's the same kind of lazy work Matthews does.

KO at least does some original reporting and research.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. I disagree

KO doesn't do any original research or reporting. He repeats what the loudest blogs are screaming.

[grasswire]

10. ah, maybe so

I don't cruise the blogs, so I wouldn't know that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. That's bullshit

He does more research than most reporters. You must not watch his show or you would know this.

[AlinPA]

2. I agree that he was all about gotchas. He had a polite demeanor. nt

[JI7]

3. i agree, i thought he was kind of naive though

based on the stuff i hear about him having a problem with Clinton over the Moninca Lewinsky stuff and believing the Bush administration on the war.

he seemed to be the type that judged people on personal private matters. probably because in his life he had a very good family that was the most important thing so the thought anyone could do what Clinton did didn't make sense to him. and just like that he believed all the crap about Bush being a good family man and therefore he wouldn't do anything like lie about war and other policy issues.

what i worry about right now is that people will do what Russert did more rather than actual discussion of issues and reporting to get to the truth.

[bunnies]

5. I hate all these anti-Russert threads.

The mans not even in the ground yet. Its so disrespectful.

[bullimiami]

7. nothing I wouldnt have said while he was alive.

its sad hes gone so early, especially for his family and friends but its not disrespectful to dicuss his life and record.

[bunnies]

11. I dont know. It just doesnt seem right given the current circumstances.

Apparently, its just me though. No one else seems to have a problem with it.

[patrice]

12. Being honest about a person is not anti-that person. It's actually pro-that person.

Negative characteristics don't usually negate positive characteristics. Genuine affection and respect are for the whole person.

[bunnies]

13. I just think its too soon to be criticizing him.

Its completely unnecessary. Few threads ranking on him when he was alive... but now that he's dead its a pig pile.

[patrice]

14. Did you see what happened here when Steve Irwin died?

I haven't been watching the TR thread stream close, but I'd bet it isn't much like some of the wild stuff that happened when SI passed on (though I didn't see much of that either. ((Come to think of it people are always saying things about the craziness around this or that, Senator Clinton's candidacy for example, and I have to say, I just don't see that much of whatever it is that they are talking about. I stay in Latest Discussion Threads mostly and just sort of graze randomly; don't know why I'm missing what's going on.)))

It's just hard to feel affection for something that isn't real. Give me the truth about a person, so I stand a chance of caring about them. Tim Russert was not the great insightful journalist some people are saying he was; that doesn't mean that I don't care about him and his family. My own husband was 53 when he passed-on, so I do know something about what this feels like and I still do not tell pretty lies about him.

[sammythecat]

18. I know what you're saying here and I have sympathy for that view.

I'm one of those that was less than enthralled with Tim Russert during the last 10 years. He was my favorite at one time, but gradually, from his relentless concentration on Bill Clinton's marital infidelity, to his general cooperation with the administration during, and after, the rush to war I lost all respect and trust in him. Sometimes he was unbiased and other times he was biased. How can I trust someone who I know to be occassionally untruthful? I had a friend one time who told a lot of interesting stories and was fun to be around. After a while it became apparent that about 25% of every story was a bullshit exaggeration. After that realization his stories weren't interesting anymore because I could never trust them to be accurate. If he told me the sun was going to rise tomorrow I'd have to check the almanac to be sure. That's how I felt about Tim Russert. He was very good and very talented and sometimes he was the best, but sometimes when all the chips were on the table, like during the "run up to war" when he had Dick Cheney as guest, I saw him become very compliant and willing to accept any answer Cheney gave even though he HAD to know something very fishy was going on. I think Tim Russerts thinking was that if he roughed up Dick Cheney and everybody else in the administration would ignore his show and he'd become marginalized. He kissed their asses rather than be marginalized. He became a self-serving coward, just like most every other big shot in the mainstream media. They were willing to acquiesce to evil people intent on a murderous invasion rather than lose ratings.

As far as the piling on, I've been in on some of those "pig-piles" myself. I might not have bothered to say anything but it's kind of hard to stomach all the efforts to canonize this guy. Turn on the television and it's been all Tim all the time. They're trying to make him out to be this steadfast champion for the truth and, damn it, he just wasn't. He was in a position where he could have made a tremendous difference before the war started and he didn't. I, most everyone here on DU, and hundreds of millions in the U.S. and around the world knew this administration was lying their asses off when they wanted to send this country to war (invasion) and thereby condemn tens of thousands of people to die. Access to powerful people in the administration and ratings were what drove Tim. He knew what we all knew, but instead of sounding an alarm, he enabled these bastards to get away with murder. Dick Cheney knew he could go on Meet The Press and he knew he wouldn't be challenged. That's why he went on the show! He knew he could count on Tim Russert to accept whatever bullshit lie he wanted to feed him. It's more about what he DIDN'T do than what he did do. I think that's why a lot of us are reacting negatively when we see all the threads and tv coverage bemoaning the loss of Tim Russert.

I'm not glad he's dead, but I am glad he's gone. Same with Wolf Blitzer, all the Fox people and really, just about every important person in today's media. They lied to us by not opening their mouths, and I'm not going to be able to trust any of them again. I'll be glad when they are all gone and hopefully replaced by people of CONSISTENT integrity. It might take a generation till we can hope for a dependably honest MSM.

[bullimiami]

6. he was big on pulling gotchas on what he considered easy targets

but when he had a bush, cheney or one of theirs on the gotchas were pretty weak.

and he was infuriatingly unfair as a debate host.

[MonkeyFunk]

8. I disagree with that

I don't think he was any easier on republicans than on democrats.

[bullimiami]

19. it wasnt party affiliation it was power.

he was always pussyfooting around those who had power and had shown they would use it and those connected to them.

ie bush admin and cronies.

[Uncle Joe]

9. All of them have roles to play for the corporate media's propaganda purposes.

Some are quite overt, mostly on the other side ie: O'reilly, Limbaugh, a few are on our side such Olbermann, many others play a more subtle role such as Russert, or Matthews, but the quality of the reporting or perspectives is as real as professional wrestling.

They're all corporate media owned and that's who they truly represent, not the people. The corporations that pay for their commercials are their clients and the people are merely consumers or customers to be sold. There is a major difference in fiduciary responsibility owed to a client versus a customer, with the client coming out on top. I believe this is why you will rarely if ever hear the corporate media refer to the American People as citizens, unless they're using it as a term for division sake ie: citizens versus illegal aliens. The word citizen is empowering as it connotes ownership or membership. The corporations are afraid of the American People actually feeling empowered to participate in their government, so they demean them by subliminally referring to the people with a word that could equally apply to ravenous locusts.

Thanks for the thread, MonkeyFunk.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

15. I agree with everything except "he wasn't a tool"....he most certainly was a corporate tool

[Gman]

17. I can appreciate and respect an OP like this about Russert

where you have an honest personal opinion about his work. I'm disgusted with the posts calling Russert a GOP shill and blaming him for the war in Iraq.